Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light
by Arye
Summary: AU. Betrayed and abandoned by all but one, he gave up the human world for a lost heritage. Now when the wizarding world knows of his innocence, will he help them in their fight against Voldemort? Azkaban, elves, teaching at Hogwarts. HPOC
1. No Hope

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. It's all JKR's. It's my first story, so be nice.  
  
Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 1 No Hope  
  
He lay in the dark. All around him prisoners moaned in nightmarish sleep. The stone under him was sticky with grime, dirt and the sweat from hundreds of prisoners before him. He could feel the chilling cold of dementors two floors down. A fiery emerald gaze pierced the dark, staring blankly at the ceiling.  
  
_Harry Potter, 'the boy who lived' a prisoner of Azkaban._ He gave a dry chuckle at the thought, not in humor but in self-derision, then groaned as it jarred his bruised ribs. If you were in Azkaban, then you were guilty. At least, that was the attitude of the guards. Whenever they got bored, they came into the cells and 'punished' the prisoners. _And I'm one of their favorite targets_.  
  
He felt the cold getting stronger. Screams sounded in his ears, then worse memories followed. He clenched his eyes shut and curled up on himself, trying to keep the sounds out. The sounds of his friends screaming at him, accusing him... of something he didn't do.  
  
_How could you Harry!!! We trusted you!_   
  
_You murdering filthy blood-sucking animal!_   
  
And the worst. Sirius. _Harry, I can't believe you did this. I was free. Wormtail was caught and given the kiss. I had so many things planned. Was power worth this?_ He had turned away, tears in his eyes. _It's too late now. Goodbye Harry_.Lupin had gripped Sirius's shoulder and started leading him towards the door, shooting a hateful look at the young fifteen year old.  
  
Harry had known it would be useless to shout his innocence. If the people who knew him best believed this of him, there was no hope.  
  
Finally the dementors moved on their way. He slowly unfolded his body, his muscles cramping up from tensing them so tightly. He lay back down in his previous position closing his eyes as he remembered the events that had brought him here.  
  
_flashback  
_  
Harry lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. Thoughts of the last year ran through his head. Cedric's glassy eyes, a pale figure rising from a cauldron, fighting for his life. Sorrow flashed across his face, remembering...  
  
It was around midnight in the fifth year boys' dorms at Hogwarts. All around him were snores and an occasional babble of sleep talking from Neville. He tried closing his eyes to sleep, but after about fifteen minutes of trying to calm his speeding thoughts, he groaned softly and got out of bed. Putting on some warm socks to keep out the cold, he headed for the door. As he passed the room's mirror, he gave a small grin at the disaster that was his hair.  
  
The fire in the common room was getting low, but the coals were burning hot and brightly, so he grabbed a blanket off the top of a couch and settled down on his stomach to stare at the flickering embers. He wasn't idiot enough to believe he was solely responsible for Cedric's death or Voldemort's resurrection. No, that was Voldemort and Wormtail's fault. But he also knew that his choices had impacted the ultimate outcome.  
  
He was nodding off while watching the mesmerizing winking of the fire when there was a small sound off behind him and to the right. Rubbing his eyes, he started to turn when a hand darted out and clasped over his mouth. Startled out of his sleepy stupor, he tried to twist out of the hold when another pair of arms caught his wrists. Starting to panic, he kicked at the man holding his mouth. The man grunted and stuck a knee on Harry's back to pin him to the ground and make it difficult for him to move.  
  
Another masked figure brought out some rope and started tying Harry's arms to his sides and his legs together at the ankles. A sock was stuffed in his mouth kept in place by another length of rope. Then he was picked up roughly off the floor and dragged towards one of the windows. He tried wriggling and catching his feet on passing furniture, but was just knocked on the head for his efforts.  
  
Ears ringing, he lifted his head from its slumped position and saw out the windows about ten more masked figures riding on broomsticks. He was able to glimpse a net hanging from four riders before he was thrown out the window to land with a muffled grunt on the center of it. Then they were off. The November weather was chilly, and his body felt frozen after just a few minutes of flying.  
  
Finally they stopped at a small town about fifteen miles from Hogsmead. Dread filled him as he saw all the deatheaters milling round the new arrivals. Finally they parted and Voldemort walked through. Harry glared up at the nightmarish figure, shivering from the cold and from hate.  
  
"Well well, the great Harry Potter. What are you doing so far from Hogwarts? No, don't answer. I already know." He smirked and walked around the prone boy, whose eyes followed him with speechless hate. "You're here to help me with a little ritual." A snarl was heard through the gag. "No, now don't interrupt. It'll be like killing two birds with one stone. I get rid of a thorn in my side and I make the wizarding world's hero into their worst nightmare, besides me of course."  
  
Sensing Harry's confusion, Voldemort turned and gave a chilling smile. "After all, who would believe that Dumbledore's golden boy would do something so atrocious, so unbelievably evil for the man who killed his parents? A spell to take the life-forces from every living thing in this smidgen of a town and transfer it to... me. They'll curse the day they ever met you. Your friends will turn their backs and hate you. And the wizarding world will fear me even more. For I turned their boy who lived into a weapon against them."  
  
Disbelief covered Harry's face as he tried desperately to escape his bindings. _I've got to get free... I've got to warn... someone!! All these people..._  
  
And so the ritual began. Like before, Harry's blood was used. And all he could do was watch as Voldemort used Harry's wand to kill every living thing within a five mile radius. The life-forces from the recently killed zoomed through the air like ghostly blue comets and into a medallion that hung from a chain around Voldemort's neck.  
  
_end flashback  
_  
He opened his eyes again. _They never even gave me the chance to explain..._ Harry had been found the next morning in the town square surrounded by houses full of dead people, the condemning wand in his hand, his pajamas transfigured into a deatheater's robe. Unconscious from the supposed drain of energy used to perform such a complex spell.  
  
_And then they gave me to the dementors. No veritaserum to prove my innocence, no questions except for ones to prove me guilty. Friendships years old, thrown away because of assumptions and incriminating evidence._  
  
He turned towards the wall, his lips pressed into a thin line. No hope was left.


	2. Elven Gifts

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 2 Elven Gifts  
  
When he opened his eyes again, it was morning. A small window at the end of the hall cast a weak ray of light on the floor between the cells and the sound of the ocean could be heard in the distance. Azkaban was an island prison, void of plant life. A grey, miserable place where hope for freedom was crushed into the stone of its foundation.  
  
Harry sat up slowly, stretching his muscles which were sore form another endless night on a stolen floor. His five foot by twelve foot cell was equipped with two buckets. One was for waste and one for water. Every evening, the prisoners were given a small plate of prison rations which had to last the next twenty-four hours. After taking a sip of water, he used the waste bucket which was instantly cleaned after use, then sat back down for another monotonous day.  
  
He had just started reciting to himself all the potions ingredients and their properties that he could remember when he heard yelling. Normally, this would be a bad thing like a drunken prison guard or an insane inmate. But this voice was familiar. As he listened to the voice coming closer, his eyes started to sparkle again, and a small smile graced his lips.  
  
Finally, the voice was directly outside his door and the locks clicked open. The door swung open, and in stepped a girl about his age. She sent a supposedly careless glance at him which narrowed in concealed anger at his gaunt and bruised appearance, then turned back to the arguing guards.  
  
"I don't care if this isn't how you do things here. I have a paper from the Minister of Magic that says I may go into the cell alone, that I may stay here as long as I want without supervision, and that orders you back to your posts while I do so. My father is the Ambassador to the wizards of Britain from my people. And if you want to explain to your Minister why the elves have withdrawn their support because of your incompetence in following orders, then feel free to continue to hinder me in seeing my friend. But when Voldemort takes over and destroys your precious wizarding world, don't come crying to us." The guards gaped at the young elf, then stammered their apologies and left.  
  
The two elves which had accompanied the girl to his cell and positioned themselves outside as the young elf walked in and shut the door.  
  
"Well, you look dreadful." She gave small a sad smile to Harry as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. He took a moment to examine her. Laurea Isilmolor, daughter of the elvish ambassador, only a few months younger than him. She seemed to give off a faint light and wore a pale purple elven dress which flowed around her figure. Her long reddish-brown hair curled softly down to the base of her back and was streaked with gold. Ice blue eyes scrutinized him just as thoroughly as he did her.  
  
"'Rea... what are you doing here?" He asked hoarsely, his face a mask of confusion.  
  
"We never believed you did it, you know..." She gave another sad smile at his startled expression. "No one with such a pure soul as you could do such an evil thing. Elves are more than just beautiful beings that are naturally good at fighting and have a deep connection with the earth. We can also sense a creature's soul. But no one would listen. They had all the evidence they wanted. We were just allies who didn't understand wizarding politics and customs." She said scornfully, "They thought that I was blinded by my friendship for you. And that my influence over my people was what was making us insist on your innocence." Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears and her lips trembled.  
  
"I swear we'll get you out of here Harry..." Determination filled her face, "One way or the other." And she closed the distance between them and hugged him tightly.  
  
Harry was in shock, and instinctively hugged her back. Tears filled his eyes as all that she'd said hit him. _Someone believes me. This whole time I've thought I was alone, without any friends, just trying to survive until the next day..._ He pulled away until he could look into her face; her eyes were slightly puffy as she looked up at him.  
  
"'Rea, whether you get me out of here or not, you've given me the greatest gift I could ask for." She looked up at him questioningly. "The knowledge that someone out there believes me... that alone gives me the will to continue living." She gave a watery smile and then looked round the room.  
  
"Well, this is a dreary place isn't it? Quite dirty too. Here, let me fix that." She drew back and with a few whispers of elvish, the entire cell was clean. "Oh, I also put a softening charm over on the floor by the far wall, and a cleaning charm on that water bucket. Can't have you getting sick from the filthy water they give you here." She said impishly. He chuckled, then winced wrapping a hand around his ribs.  
  
"Harry, are you alright? Well, besides the obvious 'being in Azkaban' thing."  
  
His lips quirked, _Even being in this Hell-hole with me, she's still the same sarcastic elfling_. "Ah, the guards get bored occasionally, and since I'm 'the boy who betrayed the wizarding world', they think kicking me around a bit will make me repent."  
  
After about fifteen seconds of swearing in elfish, she came over and told him to sit down. She sat opposite him, and touched her fingers on either side of his head, then started chanting in elfish. He felt her magic sweeping through him, healing his injuries, replenishing his energy that came from lack of food and exercise. Finally, she pulled away.  
  
"Thanks Laurea, you're the best." He grinned at her.  
  
"Harry, despite what I said to the guards, I am going to have to leave soon. And I've got a couple of gifts from my people to help you to live easier in here and even, if worse comes to worse, to escape." She looked seriously at him and then replaced her hands. The next words he heard were in his head.  
  
**Harry, I'm acting as ambassador from my people and we present you with two gifts.** She said to him formally. **The first makes you immune to the dementor's effects.** He sent feelings of joy to her through their connection. **The second gift is the knowledge to become an Animagus. **This announcement almost made him open his eyes with shock. **This knowledge will come to you slowly over the next month in order for you to get used to your form as well as alleviate suspicion from me and my people when you escape. Hopefully, they'll just think you escaped on your own with dark magic, or that Voldemort helped you. When you escape, swim to the shore. As soon as you leave the walls of Azkaban, I'll know. I'll be on the shore waiting for you in my animagus form, and from there I'll carry you to sanctuary with my people.  
**  
He opened his eyes which were wet with tears of happiness to look at her grinning face. After a few moments of speechlessness, he almost tackled her in a hug. She laughed with joy at the life that was back in his face and hugged him back. For the rest of her visit, they discussed what was going on in the wizarding and elven worlds, what the elven culture was like, and how her family was doing. When a knock sounded at the door, they sadly stood and he escorted her out after exchanging one more hug.  
  
When they had gone, Harry lay back down on his abnormally soft floor with a grin on his face, thinking about Laurea and freedom. 


	3. Fur and Claws

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 3 Fur and Claws  
  
A couple of weeks since his visit, Harry sat in the middle of his cell concentrating. Learning to be an Animagus was harder than he'd thought it would be. Even with the information placed in his brain by Rea, learning to access the animal part of himself was very difficult. And it didn't help when his attention strayed. At the moment, he was remembering the first time he'd met Laurea.  
  
_flashback_  
  
At the start of his fifth year, all he could think about was getting into the great hall for the start of term feast. He'd been running with Ron and Hermione to get out of the rain when he slammed into somebody. They'd both gone facedown in the mud and he was left behind by his friends who were so focused on getting out of the rain, hadn't noticed him go down.  
  
"I am sorry!!" He pushed himself to his feet, and then held out his hand for the cloaked figure to take.  
  
"Oh, that's perfectly alright." She took his hand and stood up. "I should have been watching where I was going instead of gaping at the castle." She tried to wipe her dirty hands on her cloak, only to find the entire piece of clothing covered in mud. He chuckled at her disgusted expression, then gestured for them to continue up the hill to the castle.  
  
"Are you new here this year? I don't think I've seen you before." He questioned as they walked.  
  
"Oh, no you're correct. I've been sent here by my people for one year to experience wizarding culture."  
  
"Your people?" He quirked an eyebrow inquisitively.  
  
"Yes," She looked up at him with an excited smile. "I'm an elf. My father is the Ambassador to the Magical Community of Britain, and he thought this would be a good experience for me. Elven magic is a lot different from human magic. It should be very interesting."  
  
"So, Elves as in Lord of the Rings?" He'd read the books by J.R.R. Tolkien the previous summer while trying to forget the events of the third task. Dudley had received them from some distant relative of his father and had thrown them into his old second bedroom, now Harry's, as soon as they'd been unwrapped.  
  
"Oh! You've read the books. Yes, like that. Well, kind of. The books were fictional, but the author based the elves of Lothlorien and Rivendell off of my people. The trilogy by Mr. Tolkien is very popular among the elves."  
  
The two continued talking until they reached the great hall. And after she'd been sorted into Gryffindor, he'd been appointed as her guide for the rest of the year, much to Hermione's envy.  
  
_end flashback  
_  
Now he was working on finding his animagus form. He'd spent the last couple of weeks learning to meditate and reach a level where he could completely clear his thoughts. As his mind blanked, shape started to form in his subconscious. It was small, with a long furry body. As it came into focus, he almost choked. A ferret??? Thoughts of Malfoy were quickly banished as he studied the creature. Its fur was completely black with dark-silver tips. Emerald green eyes shone from its face, and a small silver lightning bolt was formed out of silver hairs on its forehead. Tiny silver claws sparkled from its small paws.  
  
_Well, I guess it's better than a rat..._ A grin shone from his face. He was about to leave his meditative state when the ferret started to change. Its shape grew indistinct and began growing bigger and bigger. When it was finally done, Harry stared. A great leopard with dark silver fur and black spots sat staring at him. Again, it had green eyes, silver claws, and a small silver lightening bolt on its head. Trying to process the thought that he had two animagus forms, he almost yelled out loud when the animal in front of him once again changed shape into a brilliant phoenix. Black with dark-silver and light-silver feathers in its wings and tail, again with the similar marks of green eyes, silver talons, and silver lightning bolt were evident on the magnificent creature.  
  
When he finally opened his eyes, Harry was speechless. _Three animagus forms???_ Then he started to grin. It was all he could do to not yell and shout in excitement. When he'd finally calmed down, he sat back down to try to change. _I'll try the ferret form first, just in case I get the ridiculous urge to roar or sing or some such thing..._  
  
Then concentrating, he pictured the ferret form in his mind. Saw each detail of it like a picture of it in his head. Then whispered, "Animans transformo." He felt his body shrink, become long and slinky, felt hair and claws sprout from his skin. When he finally stopped changing, he opened his eyes. An enormous room lay before him. His nose twitched, and he pressed low to the ground in caution at the sight of the unfamiliar place. Creeping around the room, he inspected the floor and walls with careful eyes. Then his human mind came back in control, and Harry was instantly ecstatic. If anyone had come into the room at that moment, it's very possible their feet would have been attacked by an insanely hyper ferret.  
  
After he'd finished scampering wildly around the room and restraining his curious ferret mind from jumping in the water barrel in order to see what was in there, he changed back to his human form. He clapped a hand over his mouth to hold in the shout of triumph, and ended up grinning at absolutely nothing for the next twenty minutes.  
  
When he'd finally gotten a hold of himself, he tried out his remaining two forms. As a leopard, the cell had become quite cramped. After changing back, he was even gladder that he'd chosen to become a ferret first. Experiencing the fight between animal and human as a ferret gave him the knowledge he'd needed to control the leopard. He changed to the phoenix, then after experimenting with flying in the cramped cell, he became human again.  
  
He needed to plan this. Laurea had been right when she said that the wizarding world would suspect her of aiding him in his escape. Then a devious thought came to mind. For the last few days, the guards had been talking loudly about the Minister coming to visit Azkaban the next week. What better way to escape than to implicate the man semi-responsible for his imprisonment. With that satisfying thought in mind, Harry lay down to sleep. 


	4. Kalayaana

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 4 Kalayaana  
  
Cornelius Fudge passed the great doors of Azkaban prison with distaste. _Why must the Minister of Magic be required to make visits to Azkaban every other year? It's not like they're going to escape or be any less insane or filthy or guilty. Here's another meaningless law that needs changing... sigh but the thought of all that paperwork makes my head spin. Ah well, best get this over with. It'll be interesting to see how Potter's made out. Hope he's mad as a hatter. That would brighten my day enormously!_  
  
The short, slightly pudgy man made his way through the cold halls of Azkaban, occasionally glancing in at some of the more famous criminals. Finally he stood before the door which held Harry Potter, 'The boy who betrayed the wizarding world'. Gesturing for one of the guards to open the door, he and the aurors accompanying him made their way through the door of the small cell. The young boy lay on the floor moaning.  
  
"Potter!! Get up!" One of the aurors went over and kicked the prone body. A yelp sounded, and the boy slowly turned to face his uninvited guests.  
  
Fudge smirked at the blank look on the boys face. And even chuckled with the aurors next to him as Potter's eyes rolled insanely and he began babbling nonsense in a hoarse voice.  
  
"So much for 'the savior of the wizarding world', thanks Potter, you made this trip worthwhile." Fudge smirked one more time at the pitiful sight before him and walked out the door, slamming it loudly behind him.  
  
Harry slowly sat up and wiped the drool from his face after the sounds of footsteps faded down the hall. Smirking, he replied in a low voice "My pleasure Minister."  
  
---------  
  
Late that night, around one thirty, Harry slowly opened his eyes. Listening silently for the sounds of guards or dementors, he rose to a kneeling position. All that week, he'd been practicing his transformation so that by now, it was instantaneous. Quickly popping into his ferret form, he scampered to the food slot. Only about three inches high, the slot was barely high enough to fit a plate filled with food under. Luckily ferrets have the most insanely flexible bodies imaginable, so squeezing himself through was no problem.  
  
Scampering down the corridor, Harry stopped once in awhile to smell the air and listen for guards or dementors. He made it down the narrow staircases and under badly hung doors until he came to the great front door. In his human form, it must have been about twelve feet high, but as a ferret it looked like a mile. Small narrow windows sat on either side of the door. Probably used at one point in time to send spells out at attackers. It was just the right size for a small rodent to squeeze through. He jumped for the ledge and missed, jumped again and caught the ledge, but slipped off. _One thing to say for this form, it's not the most graceful in the world..._ He finally was able to catch the window and pull himself out.  
  
He hopped and scampered over rocks and debris down to the shore of the sea. Dipping a paw in the water, he made a small squeaking sound. It was freezing!! _No way am I swimming in that!! Time for Talon._ With a pop he turned to his phoenix form. In between practicing his transformation speed and getting used to moving in his various forms, he'd thought up names for each animal.  
  
For his ferret form he'd chosen the name Quist. A shortened version of the word inquisitive since ferrets were naturally curious animals. Plus he'd wanted a name as peculiar and interesting as the animal itself.  
  
His leopard form he'd named Stealth. Normal leopards' coats were made to camouflage and with Stealth's dark-silver and black coloring, he blended into the night even better. Take that and the silent way a leopard can stalk its prey... Perfect name he'd thought.  
  
Finally was Talon. He'd considered some type of name that referred to phoenix's musical talents or healing abilities, but nothing had sounded as right, or as masculine, as Talon.  
  
Harry flew low over the water, not wanting his shadow to show against the moon for anyone to witness. He could sense the land drawing nearer. As soon as he'd landed on the shore, he changed back into Quist. The ministry had assigned a couple of aurors to patrol any piece of shore within sight of Azkaban. _And I haven't come all this way just to be sighted by a couple of boot-licking_,_ first year out of training jr. aurors._  
  
He started scampering towards the forest. _I wonder when Laurea will be here... there are apparition wards all around Azkaban for fifteen miles. I wonder what kind of Animagus form she has anyway._ As he entered the forest, he cocked his small ears and lifted his nose to smell for predators.  
  
He entered a clearing to wait when he heard the sound of hooves headed his way. He was awestruck when a royal unicorn stepped into the clearing. Its coat was pale gold and its mane, tail, hooves and horn were silver. Her ice-blue eyes looked amused at the dumbstruck expression on his ferret face. Then with a pop, Laurea appeared and knelt next to him, scratching him on the head.  
  
"Aaaaawwwwww!!!! Wook at 'duh widdle fewwet!! Innee sooo pwecious!!!" Quist gave her an indignant look and bit her on the finger, softly of course. After all, it was because of her that he'd escaped in the first place. She giggled, and then spoke again. "I have an idea. No, don't change back; it'll take just a second." She picked up a dried leaf from the ground and began speaking in elfish. Curious at what she was doing, he propped his front paws up on her knee and cocked his head at the rapidly changing leaf.  
  
"There! A ferret carrying bag!! I'll just slip it over my head, transform into Luma and you can nap on the way home!" She looked delighted at her own genius. Quist rolled his eyes, then climbed in the newly made bag and rolled up to sleep. Soon they were on their way.  
  
---------  
  
As Luma trotted into Kalayaana, she was greeted by her father, several of the elders and quite a few others who were curious about the young wizard. She gave a bow of her head to the elders, a wink to her father, and then changed back to her elven form.  
  
"I'm assuming you got him if that wink and the bag around your neck is any indication." Her father muttered dryly. "You had a safe trip?"  
  
"Yes very. You'll never guess his Animagus form Father." She said with a barely concealed grin as she reached into the bag for Quist. When she pulled the ferret out and cradled him on both of her arms, Quist just yawned and rolled over.  
  
"Harry Potter!! Wake up now!" She yelled as the surrounding elves chuckled. He slowly opened one eye, glaring sleepily at being interrupted. When he finally realized that they had arrived, if ferrets could have blushed, he would have.  
  
Hopping down from her arms, he took a split-second to change back to human form. Looking at Laurea embarrassed, he finally spoke. "Um, hi."  
  
"Very eloquent. Harry, this is my father Soron Isilmolor and a few of the elders, all of which were part of the decision to give you the two elven gifts."  
  
As she said this, he straightened up. "You have my eternal gratitude both for the gifts and for your belief in my innocence. As I told 'Rea when she visited, just the knowledge of someone believing me would have been enough because it gave me the will to continue living. Again, I thank you."  
  
Laurea's father came forward. "Harry, we did not give any more than you deserved. You have been a great friend to my daughter, and it was our pleasure to give you these things. Now, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Kalayaana, the Sanctuary of Light." As he said this Harry looked behind the group that had come to meet them and gasped.  
  
The whole city was built on the ground as well as in the trees of a great valley that stretched out before them. A waterfall fell down a cliff next to a great open-air palace and the whole city sparkled in the sunlight. Built around the trees instead of the human way of chopping them down, it was like a giant garden. He glimpsed various animals, magical and non-magical, meandering here and there among the elven population. When he finally turned back to the group, there were tears shining in his eyes.  
  
Seeing that he was speechless, 'Rea spoke. "Come on Harry, let's go home." 


	5. Contest

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 5 Contest  
  
About a month later, Harry woke up at sunrise. Living with the elves had been like living in a dream. They had started training him in elven combat and weapons as well as their language and customs. No human in over five hundred years had ever been to Kalayaana, so he was quite the curiosity. Every morning, he went running both in his human form and as Stealth. The elves had been quite shocked to find that he had three Animagus forms. It turned out that the last wizard to have multiple forms had been Merlin.  
  
While doing some stretches, his mind drifted to events in the wizarding world. Voldemort had grown more daring in his attacks and the European Ministries of Magic were being hard-pressed to defend both magic people as well as muggles. The elves had been sending out parties to help protect threatened areas, but sometimes it wasn't enough. No elves had been killed yet, thanks to their skill in battle, but it was only a matter of time. Sadness filled him at the thought of these immortal beings dying. They had become his family, their culture his.  
  
He stood and began his morning run. Pink and orange light glinted against the treetops and sent the waterfall into a burst of colors. Occasionally, an elf would wave and call out a greeting and he would reply back. When he got the edge of the valley, he changed to Stealth and headed into the forest. His goal in this leg of the journey was to run as fast and as silently as possible. He constantly watched for leaves and sticks which could give away his position. Finally after about an hour of running, he headed home for breakfast.  
  
Along with Laurea and her mother and father, also living in the household was Oron and Aranel 'Rea's older brother and sister who were twins and both eighteen. They both had her same reddish-brown hair, just a shade darker with bronze streaks. Ailin, her younger sister was seven with light brown hair and reddish streaks. They all got along quite well with Harry. Oron was teaching Harry to fight with a sword while Laurea and Aranel taught him glaive fighting and they all taught him archery. Ailin just enjoyed pestering him to change into Quist so they could play and she could introduce him to her dolls. He rolled his eyes at the thought.  
  
Arriving back at home, and he did think of it as home, he quickly washed and dressed. His hair, normally short and messy, had begun growing long while in Azkaban. After coming to Kalayaana, he'd considered cutting it, but decided not to after seeing the elven style of hair. Plus, he'd figured that it would make it easier to manage. It was now long enough to be just above his shoulders. He quickly pulled it back into braids on either side of his head and tied the end with a leather cord.  
  
Whistling an elfish children's song, he jogged down the stairs to the dining room for breakfast. 'Rea and Oron were already there along with Serie their mother.  
  
"'Quel re amrun" (good morning) He said cheerfully in elfish. He was getting better at speaking and now knew several common phrases and if he didn't know how to say something there were many willing to help him. Many elves in the city spoke English and were glad to see him working so hard to learn their native language.  
  
"'Quel re amrun Corintur. Malia ten' vasa?" (Good morning Corintur. Care for some food?) She gestured to the plates of fruit and pastries on the table.  
  
"Diiola ile" (thank you) He smiled at how well he'd been integrated into this family. Corintur was his name in Elvish, and barely anyone called him Harry anymore.  
  
Bare feet were heard on the stairs and Ailin walked sleepily into the room, rubbing her eyes. "Corintur, may I play with Quist today?" She asked with big eyes, her lip stuck out.  
  
"Amin hiraetha, Ailin. Sina undome deanamo." (I'm sorry, Ailin. This evening possibly.) He winced at the thought of playing with her dolls again, and glared at Oron and 'Rea who were snickering at his predicament. She looked sad at the thought of waiting, but nodded and went to get breakfast.  
  
"Manke naa ile atar?" (Where is your father?) He asked Laurea when they were almost done.  
  
When 'Rea didn't know, they asked Serie who spoke in English to reply, "He is in a meeting with the elders. A messenger came this morning, and he said not to expect him back until after lunch or later."  
  
After everyone had finished eating, they headed outdoors to continue training Harry. Aranel and Laurea started sparring with their glaives while Oron and Harry got out their practice swords. Oron taught Harry several movements, and then showed him how to use them in combat. Then he would show him the counter movements and Harry would repeat them until he could do them flawlessly. After some easy sparring, with Oron correcting Harry when he did something wrong, they finished up and went to join the girls on archery.  
  
"Lle ume quell Corin." (You did well Corin.) Oron said with a smile, then in English, "You are improving very quickly, quicker than most humans would."  
  
"Diola ile mellonamin." (Thank you my friend.) His heart felt light at the compliment. They reached the archery pits and strung their bows.  
  
As Harry was about to aim, Laurea spoke up. "Corin, Oron, Aranel and I were talking and we think we should have an archery contest. Boys against girls. The losers have to play with Ailin this evening." She gave Harry an evil grin.  
  
Before Harry could reply, Oron spoke. "Lye weera." (We agree.) Giving the older elf an incredulous look, Harry just sighed and shook his head. _Oron's insane... I've only been doing archery for a month. There's no way we'll win..._  
  
"You'll do fine Corin. I'm better than both Aranel and Laurea. I'm sure you'll surprise them and yourself." With that they started. Going back and forth between the two teams, halfway through, the girls were a little ahead of Harry and Oron. Harry had been doing ok, just average. Then it was Harry's turn again. Aiming, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the only thing he saw was the center of the target. It was like some instinct had taken over and he let the arrow loose; and it landed dead center.  
  
For a moment there was silence. Harry stared slack-jawed at the target. He pointed dumbly at the arrow, and then gave a baffled look the three siblings. Oron, Aranel and Laurea were staring at him incredulously.  
  
"How the... Here Corin, try another." 'Rea handed him another arrow. He strung it and let fly; dead center again.  
  
"How the hell am I doing this??" Harry whispered in amazement.  
  
"Amin caela n'noa..." (I have no idea...) Oron said shaking his head.  
  
"Yeah, you guys win... Perhaps we should head inside, it's almost lunchtime. We'll try to understand Harry's phenomenally accurate aim later." Laurea said trying to drag her eyes from the two dead-center arrows. The four put their equipment away and headed inside. 


	6. The Choice

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 6 The Choice  
  
Harry stood before the elven Council of Elders, nervous about what they had to tell him. _Maybe it has something to do with Voldemort's next plans, though why they'd need to tell me I don't know._ Soron had walked into lunch that day saying that he needed to take Harry back with him to the council. When asked, he'd just replied that everything would be explained when they got home that night. He would have continued pondering all possible reasons for him to be there, but the speaker for the council stood up and all talking stopped.  
  
"Vedui' il'er." (Greetings everyone) "I will be speaking in English today as we have Corintur here as our guest. And even more importantly, because the subject of today's meeting concerns him." Harry shot a confused glance at Soron, but remained silent. "As you all know, our people have remained secluded from the human and wizarding populations. But occasionally, once in a great while an elf will leave the elven cities and visit human settlements. Very few have been known to fall in love with humans, but it did happen sometimes. The last elf to leave Kalayaana was Narmo Raumoraa, and after he left, we never saw him again. It can only be assumed that he fell in love with a human woman and never returned. Some characteristics of Narmo were his black and dark-silver animagus form and striking emerald green eyes..."  
  
By this time, Harry was gaping at the speaker. All he could do was continue to listen in shocked silence as the old elf continued to speak.  
  
"In seeing these similarities between Corintur and Narmo, we've been covertly looking into his genealogy, and have confirmed without a doubt that Narmo is Corintur's great-great-great grandfather on his mother's side."  
  
At this point, Soron came over and escorted Harry to a chair before he could fall over. _Merlin, I'm part elf... I've admired the elven culture for so long. Now I find out that's it's my culture too, my people, my family..._ Tears came to his eyes and he looked up as the elf continued to speak.  
  
"Corintur you are given a choice. It doesn't have to be made tonight or even in the near future. But you have the choice to become an elf or remain a human. If you choose an elf, you will never die except in battle or from a broken heart. But you also will watch all your human friends die of old age yet continue living centuries after they've passed. It is not a choice to be taken lightly. Now, Soron I'm sure we've given him enough to think about. Take him home and inform us when he's made a decision."  
  
Everyone stood but Harry, all he could think about was elf or human? Elf or human... The elf had reminded him that he'd have to watch all his human friends die. "What friends..." he whispered, lips trembling.  
  
"Tula Corintur." (Come Corintur.) Soron clasped Harry's wrist and pulled him to his feet. "Lyea auteska." (We're going home.)  
  
When they arrived at the large home of the Isilmolors', Harry still hadn't said a word. He greeted everyone quietly, and then said he was going up to his room to read for awhile. After he'd left, all of the children demanded to know what the council had told them that would make Corin so quiet and withdrawn. Soron explained the situation, and the three children and his wife sat silently for awhile going over this new information in their heads.  
  
Finally, Oron spoke, "Well, I guess that explains this morning then." At the questioning looks, he elaborated. "This morning after Corin and I were done with sword-work, the girls challenged us to an archery contest. Cor' was at an average level through the first half, and then all of a sudden he shoots a bulls-eye. We give him another arrow, and he just sends another one and it hits dead-center again. Maybe his elvish genes are starting to kick in after being here for awhile."  
  
"Yes, that's very possible." Soron stood there thinking for a moment. "Well, he has a very important decision to make. Don't pester him about it; he will decide when he's ready. Let's leave him alone for now and you can talk to him after dinner."  
  
They all went back to their own pursuits, except Laurea. She went up to Harry's room and knocked on the door quietly.  
  
"Tula," (Come.) She opened the door and went in. Corin was lying across his bed, an open book in front of him.  
  
"You know, it's easier to read if the book is right side up..." She said with a slow smile. Blinking, Harry looked down at the book and saw she was right. With a small smile, he closed the book and sat up. She sat on the side of the bed next to him and studied him. Finally, she spoke. "How are you doing Corin?" And then she just listened.  
  
"I'm... confused. I'm not sure who I am anymore. For fifteen and a half years, I've been Harry Potter. First a nuisance, the son of a despised sister that stood for everything they hated. Then I was 'the boy who lived'. Pushed into a whole new world where I was idolized by the population and made to fit an expectation. Then framed for something I didn't do and thrown in Azkaban, I lost the only friends I'd ever known. Now, I find I have the choice to remain human or become an elf." He looked up at her, pain in his eyes. "I want to say yes." He paused for a moment, and then went on. "But a part of me keeps hoping. Someday, maybe they'll learn the truth. Maybe I'll be able to go back to the wizarding world again. But then, would I even want to? They betrayed me." He said with tears in his eyes. "They actually believed me capable of that."  
  
"Harry," she started with compassion in her eyes, "I'm not going to tell you what you should do. You'll figure it out in time. But whether you decide to go through the ritual to become an elf or not, I hope you know that you'll always be welcome here with my family in our house."  
  
He smiled and reached over to squeeze her hand, "Dioh ile 'Rea." (Thank you 'Rea) They talked for a while longer until dinner. The family inquired about how he was doing, and he made the appropriate responses. Over the next week, life continued on as usual. But always in his thoughts was the choice. The good and bad of both possibilities continued to run through his head.  
  
Finally, he made his decision. Calling the family together, he stood up. "I've decided to become an elf." Everyone smiled as he went on. "When I first found myself with this choice, I wanted to shout yes. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of my human friends" He shook his head and his eyebrows creased in pain at the memory. "But if they actually believed that of me, I'm not sure they were really my friends in the first place..." Looking at 'Rea, he continued. "If they ever do find out the truth, they will have to earn my trust back. And I might as well be an elf as they do it."  
  
With that, they all jumped up and hugged him. "Besides," he continued, "how could I leave my family?"  
  
"Well Corin," Soron spoke, "as long as you're positive, tomorrow morning I'll inform the council. The ritual will take place in a couple of days. 


	7. Transformation

Chapter 7 Transformation

Harry stood in front of the window just staring out at the city. These were his last hours as a human and he had no regrets. It was almost sunset and the sky was painted in gold and pink, a cool breeze was blowing from the west. Tonight there would be a feast for Harry. Celebration both for his becoming an elf and for the last of the Raumoraa line being found.

His ceremonial outfit was that of an elven noble. He wore a light silver dress shirt and silver pants under his ceremonial robe. The robe was white with large sleeves and intricate silver designs were stitched around the collar, sleeves, and base of the garment. His hair had been braided and a silver circlet imbedded with tiny emeralds had been placed over his brow where it wound around the back of his head to interweave with his hair. It had once belonged to his grandfather, and now it had been passed down to Harry as his heir. His feet were left bare for the ceremony.

"Corintur?" He turned and saw Laurea in the doorway. It's time to go Corin." He nodded shakily. Now that it was time, he began to grow nervous.

They and the rest of the family left the house and began walking down the streets towards the palace where the ceremony room was located. Slowly, elves came out of the houses on either side of the streets and helped escort him. No one spoke. The only sounds were the birds in the trees, the pounding of the great waterfall, and the padding of feet.

Finally, they came to it. A great hall stood before them and at the end of it, two huge double doors. The gathering of elves entered the room behind him and he proceeded forward. One of the elven priests touched his staff to the doors and softly spoke a few elvish sentences. Slowly, the doors swung open. Harry entered the large round room beyond and the doors closed again silently. Laurea, her family and all the elves stood waiting in anticipation.

As Harry entered the room and the doors closed behind him, the first thing he saw was a large white stone sphere. It seemed to glow with an unearthly light and was set on an intricate silver pedestal. The rest of the room was decorated with painted murals and inlaid silver designs on the walls all the way up to the rounded ceiling. The murals told the story of the elves history and the silver designs shone brightly from the light of the sphere. The floor was marble inlaid with silver designs and runes forming a circle around the pedestal in the center.

Slowly, he walked forward. The sphere seemed to glow brighter the nearer he went. Up close, he could see ancient elvish carved horizontally around the center of the sphere. Now standing directly in front of the pedestal, he looked down and saw an elaborate elvish star carved on top. On either sides of the sphere two hand sized spots glowed. Holding his breath, he raised his hands from his sides and placed them on the orb. Right as his fingers touched he closed his eyes as bright white light flared.

Outside, light suddenly filled the cracks surrounding the doors and the elves in attendance murmured. This ritual hadn't been performed in more than five thousand years so many there didn't know what to expect.

"Atar," (father) Ailin whispered, "Will Corintur be alright?"

"Yes child, don't worry."

Meanwhile, Harry began to hear the soft sounds of children singing in ancient elvish. A strong wind was blowing and his hair and robes whipped around him. Quiet whispers sounded in his ears. They gave him the knowledge of his people's history, their language, the history of his family. Then beneath his eyelids he saw the sphere flare again and felt himself begin to change. He scrunched his eyebrows as his forehead tingled, and were someone to be observing him, they would have seen his scar slowly fade until there was no trace of it having ever been there. His head started to tickle and he felt his hair grow from the tops of his shoulders down to mid-back. Though he didn't know it yet, he'd soon find that he'd grown about seven inches taller and his face leaner. His ears grew pointed, his eyebrows became more arched. His eyesight grew better than perfect and when using night-vision, they would glow green. The most visible change in his appearance was the dark-silver streaks running through his hair.

Finally, the light dimmed and Corin removed his hands. Stepping back a couple of steps, he bowed to the sentient room, then turned and walked gracefully to the door. As he stepped out the entire assembly stared at the changes in this young man that they'd gotten to know over the last month.

The first to speak was Ailin, "Corintur?" she whispered.

He gave a soft smile, "Na ai'ea, ta naa amin." (Yes little one, it is I.)

With that, the dam broke and elves came rushing forward to greet him.

* * *

FROM NOW ON ASSUME ALL SPEAKING IS IN ELVISH

I will still include the occasional elvish phrase, though.

Later that night Corin was seated on a cushion in the palace gardens listening to the singing. The feast had been completely beyond his imagination. Then after everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they'd come out to the gardens for singing, storytelling, and star gazing.

Singing, as he'd noticed in the Lord of the Rings books, was a very important part of elven culture. Corin didn't know very many songs, but he was a quick learner and sometimes hummed along or sang softly to himself. During one song that he knew quite well from hearing the neighborhood children singing, he grew a bit braver and sang out some.

"Corintur Raumoraa! You never told me you could sing!" 'Rea exclaimed as she came up and sat down next to him.

He grinned shyly, "I never knew. I've never had reason or opportunity to sing before. I find I quite like it."

She giggled, "You do sound very good, solo quality even. I think you have a baritone range from the little I heard."

Corin flushed slightly at her praise, and then looked curiously at her. "So what are you, soprano or alto?"

"I'm an alto. Aranel is soprano, so sometimes we get together and sing duets at festivals and such." She smiled at the thought and looked over to where her family was sitting about twenty feet away. They had chatted for awhile longer when the next song started up. This one was a story about a phoenix that grew to love an elf and became a she-elf to be with her love. As it began, Corin cocked his head, then with a smile became Talon and sang along. When the sound of phoenix song was heard, everyone turned towards them and smiled as they saw Talon sitting next to Laurea, head stretched towards the sky singing. When the song was done, he changed back and flushed at the applause.

"Lirimaer Corintur." (Lovely Corintur.) Serie said, clapping lightly.

A bit embarrassed at his display, he held a hand out to Laurea and said "Come on, let's walk for a bit." She took his hand and they walked quietly into the torch-lit gardens. As they left, many elves exchanged knowing glances.

Corin and Laurea walked in comfortable silence and when they reached a small grove with a white bench and a beautiful marble statue of an elven maiden, they sat down.

"Laurea? I was wondering..." She looked at him questioningly as he paused. Finally, he decided to just go ahead and say it. "What are the elven traditions of courtship? Er, I mean, that is... for curiosity's sake..."

Slowly she replied, "Well, it's very much like human courtship. Like giving gifts and spending time with each other. Unlike human courtship, it isn't taken lightly. Elves go into courtship to find mates whereas I noticed a lot of students at Hogwarts enjoy just casual dating." He nodded in understanding. "Elves also have an advantage over humans in that they can perform a small ritual to see if they're compatible with each other. Why did you want to know?" And she held her breath.

Harry had been staring at the statue in front of them during the explanation. When she asked that, he slowly turned and looked at her, slightly nervous. Laurea had to deliberately tell herself not to bite her lower lip.

"Well I, that is..." He sighed in annoyance at his inability to form an answer. "I'm starting to... have feelings for you 'Rea." He said honestly; glad to have it out in the open. Then he looked at her to hear her response.

She looked slightly stunned, then her expression softened and her lips trembled as she answered. "I have feelings for you too Corin." She bit her lip and smiled and he suddenly felt breathless. His eyes lit up, and he jumped to his feet, pulling her up with him and into his arms hugging her. They stayed like that for a moment, then he moved back to look into her face.

"'Rea, do you want to do the ritual? I want to make sure this is right. I don't want to hurt you if we're not compatible." She nodded and lifted a necklace over her head and held it between them. It had a medium sized clear crystal attached to a long silver chain which pooled in her hands.

"This is a compatibility necklace. Every daughter in every elven household receives one on her twelfth birthday. When the incantation is said, the crystal glows one of four colors. Red is extreme incompatibility, yellow is moderate, green is very compatible, and blue means the two are soul mates." She told him the incantation they would have to say and slipped the chain over both of their heads. It glowed white when they put it on. Then looking into each other's eyes, they said the incantation. The white light flared, and then gradually became a royal blue. They looked at each other incredulously; finally 'Rea spoke in a shaking voice.

"I never expected, I mean... for an elf to find their soul mate. It's like one in a thousand odds, mum and dad only had a green stone. I never imagined," She would have gone on, but Corin leaned down and kissed her softly. When he pulled back, she looked into his eyes and smiled at the joy she saw there.

"There's one more thing to do." She took the necklace from around both of their necks and whispered softly in elvish. The whole necklace flared with light, and then split into two separate necklaces. The second necklace held a man's ring. It was silver with runes inscribed around the sides. Their names were carved on the inside, and imbedded on the outside were three softly glowing royal blue stones, two small framing a larger one in the middle. "This is your promise ring." She said softly, "You wear it on this chain around your neck until the day we wed." She slipped it around his neck, her eyes never leaving his.

He fingered the ring, then looked at her and spoke. "Laurea, I love you so much. And if I had to wait a thousand years to be with you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. You make me complete." He took the necklace from her hands, the blue stone also glowing softly, and placed it gently around her neck.

She looked at him, her eyes shining. "I love you too Corintur Raumoraa."

They had been standing in the clearing talking quietly in each other's arms when Corin remembered the party. "Perhaps we should head back." She agreed, and they slowly walked back through the gardens, hands held between them.


	8. Scurvy Dog!

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 8 Scurvy Dog!  
  
Oron was seated next to his mother and sisters watching and listening to the celebration going on around him. Ailin was pestering him to turn into his animagus form Flame which was a small slate-blue dragon, as tall as his thigh with silver claws and ridges along his back. In order to escape his younger sister, he stood and walked towards the table of snack food. He was about halfway there when he saw Corin and Laurea walk back into the garden.  
  
He stopped and studied them, something seemed different. He saw the young elf who was quickly becoming his best friend turn and look with affection and... was that love, at his younger sister. They held hands and 'Rea laughed quietly at something Corin said. He smiled at the sight and was about to turn away again when something caught his eye, he saw Corin fingering a silver necklace around his neck and his excellent elven sight caught glimpse of a silver and blue ring.  
  
"Ed' i'ear ar' elenea!" (By the sea and stars!) He whispered in amazement. When he finally got over his shock, he started to grin. His best friend and sister were soul mates!!! Quickly shaking off the shock, he changed directions.  
  
Corin and 'Rea were talking quietly about the reactions of her family when they learned about the results of the ritual. Corin had been concerned about the propriety of living with her and her family while dating her. She assured him that elven culture was much more tolerant of things the human world would consider improper. Plus, she'd pointed out, every elf in Kalayaana knew his character and trusted him. They were walking quietly on the outskirts of the gathering when Corin was almost tackled by his best friend.  
  
"De' I' elenea, Corin!!!" (By the stars, Corin!!!) "When did you two, I mean..." He was almost bouncing as he looked joyfully at the two of them. "You don't know how happy I am for you two!!" His eyes were shining and they smiled shyly. "Come now, let me see the necklaces!!"  
  
He inspected first the stone around his sister's neck, then the ring around Corintur's. "These are the darkest soul-mate stones I've ever seen! I saw a picture in a book that had a stone closer to a sky blue, but this is more of a royal blue." He flung his arms around the two soul-mates and hugged them tightly. "Mum and dad are going to be ecstatic!! They'll just faint, I know it!! Aranel and Ailin will probably start planning your wedding as soon as they find out!" He laughed as the two blushed. "Nah, I know it's too soon yet, but by the Valar, you're so lucky to have found each other."  
  
By that time, he'd started to make such a commotion that elves were starting to glance at them.  
  
Laurea noticed and hissed, "Oron, stop making a scene!" He just grinned and bounced on his toes with energy.  
  
"Come on, let's go show mum!" He grabbed their hands and pulled them over to the Isilmolor blanket where his mother, father and two sisters were sitting.  
  
"Look who I found!" Oron declared, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously. Serie was about to reply when her eyes caught the necklace around her daughter's neck. Gasping, her eyes moved to Corin and the ring on his necklace.  
  
"Oh!" Was all she got out before moving to hug her daughter, and then went on to hug Corin. It took only a second for the rest of the family to recognize the significance of the necklaces before there was a rush to hug the two teens. Luckily their blanket was fairly separated from the rest of the elves there so they didn't have to worry about being mobbed with well- wishers.  
  
When they had all been seated again, the two softly explained how it had all come about, all the while sneaking shy but happy looks at each other, none of which escaped the notice of the family.  
  
Finally, Soron decided to call an end to the evening. "It's been a long day and you three have training tomorrow." He said to the three oldest. "Let's get home and get some rest."  
  
With that, they gathered up their things and headed back home.  
  
---------  
  
The next day after his morning run and breakfast, Corin and Laurea were in the sparring courts working on his glaive fighting. As with archery, his improvement with the glaive was phenomenal. They had started out with warm-ups and going over standard offensive and defensive movements from memory. Now they were doing a mock fight. The glaives were long silver weapons with a long four foot handle with a two and a half foot curved blade at the end. There were runes carved into the blades and inlaid gold decorated the handles with elven designs.  
  
Corin, though with less experience, made up for it with natural talent and fast reflexes, so they were fairly evenly matched. The blades were spelled to inflict only bruises if they landed, so there was no worry over serious injuries. Oron and Aranel watched from the sidelines as the two elves went back and forth trading blows ready to give advice on improvement once the fight ended.  
  
'Rea swung her blade down in a graceful ark, only to have her attack blocked, then had to jump and roll out of the way of Corin's responding attack. He grinned as she rolled to her feet and came at him again. He ducked a swipe, and then swung his weapon across and low to catch her by the knees. She jumped his attack and then in a quick movement, too fast for him to follow or expect, she spun her glaive and in an advanced attack his glaive flew out of his hand to land about eight feet away. He held up his hands in mock surrender as she held the edge of her blade to his throat.  
  
"Do 'yeh surrender ye scurvy dog?" She said in a mock pirate voice.  
  
He snorted, "Do you have any idea how much you just sounded like that mad painting Sir Cadogan?"  
  
"It's not wise to insult an enemy who holds you at their mercy." She said narrowing her eyes playfully.  
  
"Fine fine." He said in mock submission, "Please fair lady, I beg you spare this unworthy knight's life." He said dramatically, complete with arm motions. "Should my life be spared, I swear this day to give up my life of evildoing and become a monk." By this time Laurea had to bite her lip to keep from cracking up laughing. Oron and Aranel had no such qualms and were close to tears. Pretending not to notice, Corin continued. "Or if that doesn't please my lady I will dedicate my life to the care and growing of flobberworms. Or if she finds that too dull, I will..."  
  
"Enough!! Sss...stop!" Laurea couldn't hold her laughter back any more. Corin grinned at his success and then stepped away from the glaive which was wobbling at his neck from her laughter. He bent to pick up his own weapon, and then went to stand beside her, his arm around her waist as she tried to control her giggles. The two made their way over to Oron and Aranel for suggestions on how they could improve.  
  
Oron spoke first, "Well 'Cor, if there's one thing to say for you, there's not a dull moment with you around." They all grinned, and he continued. "I noticed you have a habit of swinging wide when you do an across sweep, try to keep it more controlled. Also, we haven't taught you the counter for that move 'Rea used to defeat you with there at the end, so there's something to work on tomorrow. 'Rea, good as always, watch your footing when you come up from a roll. You tend to not have your feet as spread for balance as you should. That's all I can think of. Anything to add Ara?"  
  
"Nope, you read my mind."  
  
"Yeah, well twins tend to do that."  
  
"Shut-up."  
  
Ignoring the twins bickering, Corin and 'Rea went to put their weapons away, then the four of them headed inside the house to clean up for lunch. News of the two teen's status as soul-mates had spread throughout the city, and many had sent their congratulations to the pair. As Oron had predicted, the women of the house had gotten right into looking at bridesmaids dresses and wedding decorations, much to the embarrassment of Laurea and Corin. They weren't planning on getting married any time soon, as they were both only fifteen, but didn't have the heart to tell the romantics to stop. Corin smiled as he thought about how much his life had changed since escaping Azkaban. 


	9. Mirie

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 9 Mirie  
  
"Corin, will you turn into Quist and play dolls with me?" Ailin asked in a sweet, pouty voice.  
  
Corin groaned inwardly, than gave the young elf a strained smile. "Ailin, are you sure you want to play dolls? How about we go for a walk instead?"  
  
She considered that, "Well, alright. Could you take me to the forest? Last time we were there, it started raining, so we had to run back."  
  
He smiled and tried not to let his relief show. "Yes, that sounds good. Let's go ask your mother and see if anyone else wants to go." Serie gave her permission, but the rest of the siblings declined, so he and Ailin headed out on their own.  
  
It was almost two months since his becoming an elf and becoming essentially betrothed to Laurea. He had learned an incredible amount of weapons training and elvish magic since his transformation. He could now do the equivalent of seventh year spells in elvish and had also had 'Rea teach him some simple to moderate healing spells.  
  
As they walked, or skipped in Ailin's case, he occasionally waved greetings to neighbors they passed. Ailin wore a pale yellow flowing dress and he a dark blue tunic with silver embroidery around the cuffs and collar as well as black leggings and boots. His dark hair was held back in its usual braids, the dark-silver streaks glinting in the sun. Ailin had hers hanging free, swinging about her waist with little silver butterflies clipping it free of her face.  
  
They reached the edge of the city and entered the cool forest. Sunlight filtered through the branches above and patches of sunlight lay here and there on the ground. Ailin hummed softly some children's song as she went about looking at flowers and peeking in bushes hoping to see an animal or two.  
  
Corin trailed behind her watching for signs of dangerous creatures, though the chances were unlikely living so near an elven city. Evil creatures tended to avoid contact with elves since elves could sense the evil in them and drive them out or kill them if need be. He was examining the trail of a herd of unicorns when Ailin called out.  
  
"Corin, Corin! Come here! Hurry, its hurt!" She crouched about fifteen feet away, looking at something on the ground. He hurried over and crouched next to her. On the floor of the forest lay a small feathery golden ball, about the size of a ping-pong ball, with small metallic looking wings and jewel-like ruby eyes.  
  
"Merlin, it's a snidget!" He looked closely at the small thing and noticed one of its wings was a bit mangled and some blood could be seen on its round body. Carefully, so as not to startle or hurt it, he touched a finger to it right over its eyes and chanted a healing spell. His finger tingled and he watched as the small creature, which had been having trouble breathing just a moment before lifted it's head and gave a small cheep.  
  
He smiled as Ailin oohed and awed over the little creature. "Well little one," he addressed the snidget, "are you ready to fly again?" He carefully shifted the soft golden snidget into his hands and lifted it to eye level. It cocked its small head at him as it perched on his outstretched finger and Ailin giggled.  
  
"Well, go on." He lifted his finger up, trying to get it to fly off to its home. It gave another small cheep and then lifted into the air. Only, it didn't go anywhere. Instead it flew up to his face and nuzzled his cheek. All of a sudden, he was sent a feeling of happiness and belonging and friendship as well as a picture of himself with a snidget on his shoulder walking towards home.  
  
"You want to stay with me??" It gave another soft cheep, then hummed and sent him a feeling of contentment. "Very well." He turned to Ailin and grinned sheepishly, "I guess I've acquired a pet." Ailin of course was ecstatic. "What shall we name him?"  
  
Ailin thought for a moment. "What about Fluffy?" His lips quirked as he remembered Hagrid's three-headed dog.  
  
"Mmmm, nah. Doesn't sound right." He thought for a moment more. "How about Miri? Short for the name Mirie meaning Jewel."  
  
"Awww! That's perfect!" Miri gave another happy hum, and they stood.  
  
"Do you want to keep exploring or head back?"  
  
"Let's go home, I want mummy to see Miri!" Ailin was bouncing in excitement. Miri, happy she had gotten her point across had flown up and perched on Corin's shoulder, then proceeded in preening her feathers. As they walked back, he reached up and scratched the little snidget behind her unseen neck and she hummed.  
  
---------  
  
Corin and Ailin walked in the house, taking off their shoes as they went. Miri looked around curiously, but kept her perch on Corin's shoulder.  
  
"You two are home early," Serie's voice could be heard from the kitchen. "I would have expected to not see you for at least a couple more hours."  
  
They walked into the kitchen and saw Serie seated at the table sipping tea and waiting for whatever was in the oven to cook. The kitchen was like the rest of the house, light and open. It had many plants growing in the windows, and was almost sparkling it was so clean.  
  
"We were going to stay longer Mummy, but we found Miri!" Ailin was almost bouncing in excitement and her mother gave an amused smile.  
  
"And who is Miri if I may ask?" Corin reached a finger up to his shoulder and Miri hopped onto it. He held the little snidget out for Serie to see.  
  
"We found her wounded about fifty yards in. I healed her and she decided she didn't want to leave, so we brought her home." Miri cheeped and preened when she sensed she was being observed. Serie was amazed at his luck in befriending a snidget who were very shy creatures, and with a slender finger caressed its small golden head. Miri only hummed and continued running her feathers through her long thin beak, cleaning and oiling them.  
  
Corin smiled at Miri's behavior, then asked his small friend, "So little one, are you hungry?" Miri glanced up and then sent an image of her drinking out of a grape. "Serie, do you have any grapes?" She grabbed a couple from the ice box, and set them on the table. Miri took off from his shoulder and hovered over the fruit as she inserted her tiny beak into one of the grapes. She seemed to suck the liquid out until it was just a mass of wrinkled skin and pulp. When she'd finished with two grapes, the little snidget flew to the high collar of Corin's tunic and tucked herself inside next to his neck. She then proceeded to scrunch her head down inside her feathers until you could barely see it, wrapped her wings around herself and closed her eyes to sleep.  
  
Corin chuckled softly at the antics of his little friend, and then suggested to Ailin that they go out to the gardens for the rest of their walk. 


	10. Dumbledore

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 10 Dumbledore  
  
Soron walked through the halls of Hogwarts on his way to the headmaster's office. As he passed classrooms, he could hear the instructors teaching and the occasional babble of students. He was curious about why he'd been called to wizarding school and not the ministry. Finally, he reached the statue of a phoenix and stopped in front of it.  
  
"Canary creams." The statue jumped aside and he made his way up to the office door. He knocked and heard the headmaster call for him to enter. The door swung open and he saw Dumbledore seated at his desk, with Fudge seated in a chair in front of it.  
  
"Ah, you are Soron Isilmolor are you not?" The headmaster questioned, "Lemon drop?"  
  
"Thanks, but no. May I ask why I am here?" He looked at the two men curiously.  
  
"Ah, yes... er. There has been an unexpected revelation. As you know, there has been an extensive manhunt for Harry Potter." Fudge told both men hesitantly, occasionally reaching a hand up to wipe away nervous sweat. "And part of that was capturing known deatheaters and questioning them under veritaserum. One we questioned started bragging about kidnapping Potter against his will and taunted us about the boy's innocence. Naturally, we questioned the other deatheaters we had and their stories match up. You were right about Potter's innocence. Now we need you to help us locate him so we can get him to a safe location before Voldemort can get his hands on him." Fudge ended his explanation.  
  
"Let me get this straight, you betrayed this boy. Threw a fifteen year old in Azkaban no less, and want him to just come happily back? I have been trying for months to get you idiots to see that he was innocent and now..."  
  
"He's not innocent." Dumbledore stated, his face blank.  
  
"I assure you he is Headmaster; it's not possible to lie under Veritaserum." Fudge insisted.  
  
"And I'm telling you he's guilty." Soron noticed a strange gleam in the old wizard's eyes and used his elven abilities to examine him closely. What he saw shocked him. There was some type of magic imprisoning the headmaster's will. He was being controlled, not by imperious, but by something much stronger. Without hesitation, he immobilized both Dumbledore and Fudge. Fudge so he couldn't interfere and Dumbledore so the thing controlling him couldn't fight back. Standing, he ignored Fudges shouts to free him and walked around the desk to stand beside the headmaster's chair. Fawkes gave a happy trill, knowing the elf was going to free Dumbledore.  
  
He placed his fingers against the temples of Dumbledore's immobile head and closed his eyes. Whispering in elvish, he fought against the thing that had a hold of the man's mind. It was a sentient thing and pure evil, but very subtle so that even an elf wouldn't know it was there unless they specifically looked for it. He continued chanting, taking one hand away and pulling a small clear stone from his pocket. He pressed the stone to the headmaster's head and continued chanting. Slowly, the stone started to look discolored, and then grew darker. He could feel the headmaster helping him now in expelling the thing from his mind. Finally, when the stone grew completely black, Soron opened his eyes to the now clear blue ones in front of him.  
  
Fudge had finally shut-up somewhere through the process and stared at the two of them fearfully, as if he were next. Soron looked at the soul of the Minister, but found nothing and was saddened that the leader of the wizarding world put an innocent fifteen year old in jail of his own free will.  
  
Dumbledore leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, exhausted from trying to fight the thing controlling him all these months. Fawkes flew over and rested on his shoulder, singing until Albus opened his eyes again. When Soron saw he was going to be alright, he turned to the Minister and released him.  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I've just released him from being controlled by some sort of sentient shadow. It looks like it's been there for awhile. Long enough back to insure C... Harry was put in Azkaban."  
  
"Eight months." The headmaster said tiredly. "The same night Harry was kidnapped, that thing found it's way to my quarters. Fawkes tried to help me, but it was already too late."  
  
By this time, Fudge was gapping, unable to believe the great Albus Dumbledore could have been controlled in this way. But he shook it off and spoke. "Well, very good then. Good to have you back Dumbledore. Now how about the elves helping us find Potter?"  
  
Soron gave the Minister a cold look. "Absolutely not. Your world betrayed him. You're lucky he isn't spiteful or bitter enough to have escaped only to join Voldemort. Yes, I know where he is, but you'll never find him. Perhaps if your world shows how sorry it is for imprisoning an innocent and commit itself to uniting and defeating Voldemort, than maybe. Now leave. I have more I need to speak to the Headmaster about."  
  
The Minister was indignant about being spoken to in such a way and annoyed at the elf's answer. He was sufficiently afraid of Soron's wrath should he voice any of this though, so he left in a huff.  
  
The two sat quietly, lost in their own thoughts. Finally Dumbledore spoke, "How is he?"  
  
Soron looked up and studied the headmaster. Liking what he saw he replied, "Happy." Albus's eyes regained some of their twinkle. "I ask you not to share what I tell you with anyone else, even his former friends. I wouldn't even tell you, except I know you couldn't help what happened and only want the best for him."  
  
Albus nodded. "His friends and godfather will be shocked when they learn of his innocence, but they haven't earned the right to see him or learn where he is yet. If they inquire I will only tell them he is safe and happy."  
  
Smiling in thanks, Soron continued. "He is living with me and my family." The elf continued and explained about the elven blood on Harry's mother's side and about the decision to become an elf. He also described Harry's animagus forms and Fawkes looked curious at the description of Talon in black and dark-silver.  
  
"A couple of days after coming to Kalayaana, Harry was given the name Corintur which is the elven name for Harry. My children all love him, Laurea especially. A couple of months ago, Corin and 'Rea did a ritual and found they were soul-mates. Serie and I were ecstatic of course." Soron grinned. The two were talking back and forth like old friends now.  
  
After a bit of discussion about how the ritual went and about Harry's elvish training in magic and weapons, Albus asked, "Do you think after you explain about my being controlled Harry will see me?" Soron could hear the hope in his voice.  
  
He thought about it for a few seconds, "Yes, I think he will. Perhaps we'll give him some time to get used to the idea, but maybe we could have you come for his birthday party in a couple of weeks."  
  
Albus smiled, "Yes that would be very nice. If he does agree, I think I'll bring Fawkes. They always got along very well."  
  
With these plans in mind, the two said their goodbyes and Albus returned to his desk. He thought wearily about how he was going to explain to the staff and Harry's friends and adopted family about the boy's innocence. He knew a tough time for the wizarding world was ahead.

* * *

Corin sat out in the garden that night with Miri thinking. When Soron had explained how his meeting had gone after dinner, he'd been shocked to find out about Dumbledore being controlled and felt sympathy for the old wizard. _That was one of the things that really hit me hard when I was arrested, Dumbledore's not believing me. He'd been my mentor for so long... I'm glad it wasn't of his own will. It will be good to see him at my birthday party.  
_  
Miri gave a cheep from his collar and he reached an absent finger up to stroke the little golden bird. He'd really found a friend in Miri that morning. The little bird was extremely loyal and hadn't left his side all day.  
  
He sighed in contentment as he looked up at the stars. When he heard Laurea calling for him to come and play an elvish game similar to chess, he stood and headed inside.  
  
While he was walking, he thought about his old friends and what their response would be to his innocence. He frowned. No doubt they'd try to find him and apologize. He knew he'd have to forgive them eventually, but not right away, his heart was still bruised from their betrayal. _Someday I'll forgive them, but not yet._


	11. Diagon Alley

Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light  
  
Chapter 11 Diagon Alley  
  
Corin grunted as Oron's fist caught him in the stomach. They were working on unarmed fighting today which hadn't come as easily to him as fighting with a weapon. Plus the fact that Oron was the elven equivalent of a muggle black-belt. Still, he was doing pretty good considering. He sent a kick at Oron's head who caught his foot and twisted it sending Corin to the ground. As he landed, he did a backwards roll and jumped to his feet just in time to get his arm up to block another punch.  
  
This went on for another few minutes until finally, Oron brought him down with a kick to his right shoulder. Corin lay on the ground panting and stifled a groan. He gave a glare when Oron decided to give another show of his victory to the girls and placed a foot on his back and stood there shouting 'I win I win!' At least that was what he was doing until Corin got annoyed and grabbed the offending foot and tugged, sending Oron to the ground as well.  
  
The girls laughed at their antics and Corin turned to look at his friend. "I thought this was supposed to be my birthday? Being beat up by you is not my idea of fun."  
  
The two sat up and shook the dirt out of their hair, but couldn't do anything about the dirt that had stuck to them from their sweat. When they had gotten up this morning and Corin hadn't known what to expect in regards to elven birthday celebrations. So far it had been like any other day in he'd gone for a run, cleaned up, had breakfast, then went out with Oron and the girls to train.  
  
Oron turned to him after taking a drink out of the water bottle Aranel had thrown him. "So what do you want to do? Sit around all day and do nothing?" Aranel and Laurea had come over by then and were looking at the two boys still sitting in the dirt.  
  
"You two are filthy. Let's head inside and we can talk about what to do next after you're clean again." They agreed and were soon outside again lounging in the branches of a large weeping willow discussing what to do for the rest of the day until the party that evening.  
  
As they talked, Miri flew up and landed on Corin's chest where he lay on his back on a large thick branch. He scratched her head affectionately and gave another idea to the group.  
  
"How about going out and doing something in the muggle world?" Silence met him at this unusual idea. Neither Oron nor Aranel had ever been outside Kalayaana and Laurea had only been to the wizarding world.  
  
Finally 'Rea spoke, "What would we do?" Ideas flew through his head, and he remembered 'Rea's comment at the beginning of his fifth year about how much the elves liked The Lord of the Rings books.  
  
He grinned, "A Lord of the Rings marathon!!!" The looked at him confusedly. "A couple of years ago, some muggles started making movies to go along with the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. I hear they're pretty good. The third movie isn't out yet, but we could get into my Gringotts account and change some galleons into muggle money, buy a big TV, a DVD player and the movies. We'd have to find some way to run them on magic, but I think we could do it!" He looked at them enthusiastically, they only looked confused. After explaining what a movie, TV and DVD player all were, they started liking that idea as well.  
  
It took a lot of planning, including a notice-me-not charm on Miri who refused to be left behind, transfiguring some of their older outfits to muggle jeans and t-shirts and getting permission from Soron and Serie. Ailin wanted to come, but her parents told her this was something for just the four older elves to do and she would be able to do fun things that night.  
  
Soon, the four friends found themselves on the street outside the leaky cauldron and Corin hesitated.  
  
"Corin, are you sure you want to do this?" Laurea asked him, touching his arm worriedly. He took a deep breath and nodded.  
  
"There's no way they would recognize me. It's just... going back into that world." He paused and gave a haunted look at the front of the small pub. "It'll be hard, but I can do it." He led the way to the door.  
  
As they walked in, a couple of patrons stared at their muggle clothes, but turned back to their drinks as Corin raised an eyebrow at their staring. They continued through the pub and Corin found himself grateful that he'd thought to conceal his scar.  
  
"Is that Laurea?" Tom the barkeeper greeted them with a smile. "Who are your friends?"  
  
'Rea smiled at the old barkeeper who'd shown her the way to Diagon Alley on her first visit. "Tom, this is a friend of my family Corintur, my brother Oron and my sister Aranel. We're here to get some money from Gringotts and are headed out for a day in muggle London."  
  
After chatting a bit longer and promising to buy some butterbeer on the way out, they left for Diagon Alley. As the wall opened, they were met with the sight of hundreds of students shopping for school supplies. At the sight of the street crowded with Corin's old classmates, the three friends gave Corin a concerned glance.  
  
"Corin buddy, are you sure you're alright with this?" Oron asked softly in elvish.  
  
He hesitated, and then nodded. "Yeah. I forgot about booklists being sent out around this time." He shook himself and nodded. "Let's go." With that, the four elves headed down the street towards the wizarding bank. There were several glances sent their way, but they ignored the stares and continued towards their destination.  
  
Corin handed his key to a goblin who barely spared a glance at the elf and led them towards a cart. Oron and Aranel enjoyed the ride there and back enormously and were grinning by the time they arrived back at the entrance.  
  
After that, Corin began to relax and when begged to look around for awhile grinned and agreed. The first stop was Quality Quidditch Supplies. Both Corin and Laurea had told the twins a lot about the game and were excited to get a look at the store. Inside was a madhouse filled with both students and adults. Many were crowded around the store window which held the next version of the Firebolt, a sleek gold and black broom which Corin drooled over before turning to browse the rest of the store.  
  
Miri had been sleeping on the collar of Corin's t-shirt, her tiny talons grasping the fabric in a sturdy hold. Now as they entered the store with loud talking all around them, she woke up and stretched her wings. She cheeped and looked around curiously, but stayed put when Corin sent an image of people trying to catch her thinking she was a snitch if she went flying around the Quidditch store.  
  
He was looking through a Quidditch magazine when he caught a flash of red hair out of the corner of his eye. Glancing slowly up, he was met with the sight of the Weasley family. Swallowing painfully, he put the magazine down and walked back to the others.  
  
"Can we go now?" He asked softly in elvish. They stopped what they were doing when the heard his tone. At their questioning looks, he motioned towards the window. 'Rea's breath caught as she saw Corin's old friends. "I'm not ready." He said, again speaking in elvish, his voice was trembling. "I can't see them yet."  
  
They nodded and made their way out the door. They skirted the red- headed family and made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron. After buying four bottles of butterbeer from Tom, they headed out into muggle London. 


	12. Knealins

Chapter 12 Knealins  
  
The four young elves walked back down the streets of Kalayaana in high spirits. After leaving Diagon Alley, Corin had introduced the three siblings to the wonders of a shopping mall. He couldn't help but shake his head ruefully as he remembered the elves' antics.  
  
They had only just finished buying the movies, a large flat-screen TV and a DVD player when 'Rea and Aranel saw a girls clothing store. After that, they had been dragged from shop to shop with the girls' constantly borrowing money. ('Don't whine Corin, we'll pay you back. Now go try this on.') She would hand him and Oron clothes and chase them into the dressing room.  
  
Occasionally the guys would be able to drag them out of the clothing shops and into a store of their choice... but not often.  
  
Now they were back; the girls victorious, the guys exhausted. It was around five o'clock in the evening and the party was set to start in a half an hour. As the four teens walked in the house, Soron, Serie and Albus chuckled at the worn out expressions on the boy's faces.  
  
_Wait, Albus?_ "Professor Dumbledore?" Corin said with a double-take.  
  
The headmaster's eyes twinkled, "Happy birthday Harry, excuse me, Corintur."  
  
"Thank you sir." Corin gave a hesitant smile.  
  
"Why don't you four go upstairs and put your things away?" Serie suggested, "Then come back down here and we can chat until dinner time." They all nodded and started up the stairs.  
  
Corin laid his many packages out on his bed and started putting them away. Several muggle t-shirts, jeans and sweatshirts were stowed in his drawers and he enlarged the TV and DVD player back to their original size and set them on the floor along the wall. After shopping with the girls for a couple of hours, Oron and he had gone back in another electronics store and bought a stereo system so they could get 'the full effect' of the movie according to the salesperson. _Boy, they sure saw us coming... ah well, it's not like I don't have the money to afford it._  
  
He put this along the wall for later as well and then went to his closet. He had several sets of elven clothing to choose from, but ended up with a dark-silver tunic with silver designs and black pants. He took a quick shower, braided the sides of his hair away from his face, changed into his clothes and went downstairs. He fingered his soul-mate ring nervously as he thought about seeing his old Headmaster again, then entered the living room where everyone was seated.  
  
They were in the same seats they'd been in before and no one had joined them, so Corin figured he was the first one down. He took a seat and listened as Soron described elven culture for Dumbledore who seemed fascinated. Finally the conversation got around to the shopping trip that day and the adults laughed at Corin's descriptions of the girls going slightly nuts in the clothing stores.  
  
"I don't know how I ever left that place with money in my pockets..." Corin said with a grin.  
  
"Don't you blame that all on us Corintur Raumoraa! I seem to recall you boys spending at least as much as us on electronics! Honestly, we already have speakers for the TV but no, you need a surround-sound stereo system to go with it." 'Rea walked into the room.  
  
Corin was about to retort back, but Dumbledore spoke. "What's this about a TV?" So they explained about The Lord of the Rings movies and their plan to alter them to run off magic. That got Dumbledore excited as he had read the books by Tolkien and offered to help adjust them to magic on the condition that he was allowed to stay and watch the movies as well.  
  
"Sure! Do you want to look at them right now?" At his agreement, the two stood and headed up to Corin's room. Dumbledore looked like a kid in a candy store when he saw how muggle technology had advanced since he'd seen it last.  
  
While he was tinkering, Albus studied his one-time student. The boy looked happy and comfortable in his new life. Again, he cursed the shadow that had been controlling him, wishing he could have somehow fought its influence. He was glad for Corin, but wished the wizarding world had been wiser.  
  
"I'm glad you escaped my boy," Corin looked up from where he was studying the movie boxes. "You're happy here, and as much as I hate to say it, you fit in here better than you did in the wizarding world with their prejudices and high expectations."  
  
Corin smiled at the Headmaster's understanding of thoughts that had been swirling around in his head since he'd become an elf. He spoke softly, "They don't look at me as a hero here, just another elf; a part of the family." He beamed, "I finally have a family that loves and accepts me."  
  
Dumbledore was about to reply when Miri flew into the room followed by Fawkes. The small snidget flew up to Dumbledore, inspecting him, then flew to Corin and playfully made to perch on his nose. Albus chuckled as the young elf scowled and batted the bird away. Fawkes made an amused noise, then gave Miri a look. Miri sent Corin an image of him changing into Talon for Fawkes.  
  
"Headmaster, do you want to see my animagus forms? Miri told me Fawkes wants to see Talon."  
  
"Of course, let's see them." He showed Quist and Stealth first, and when he changed to Talon, Fawkes gave a trill and landed next to him on the bed to inspect his phoenix form. Albus watched as the two phoenixes trilled and sang to each other for a few minutes and then Corin changed back.  
  
"Did you know Fawkes is three-thousand four-hundred sixty-two years old?" Corin grinned and scratched the phoenix behind the neck.  
  
Albus chuckled, "No, I knew he was old, but not how old." He spoke one more spell over the electronics, "Well, I think that does it." After starting the movie to make sure it worked, they headed back downstairs to dinner.  
  
---------  
  
After dinner it was time for presents. They all gathered in the living room and watched as Corin opened his first present which was from Ailin. She'd given him a box of his favorite elven candy which tasted like strawberries and honey. After giving Albus (who inquired about their name to give him more password ideas) and everyone else a piece of the candy, he continued onto his next present.  
  
Aranel handed him her gift and he opened it. It was a pair elven boots. They were dark brown, almost black and went up to the base of the knee. They were also made to be silent when walking and were incredibly lightweight.  
  
From Soron and Serie he received a set of elven battle robes in black and dark-silver. They were made of lightweight material for ease of movement and had several protection spells woven into the fabric that would protect against minor spells. Runes and elven designs were woven into the collar, breast and cuffs and around the base of the clothing with silver thread. On the back was stitched his three animagus forms, again in dark-silver thread. This was also accompanied by a shirt of elven chain mail which was also very lightweight and helped protect against many of the more dangerous spells.  
  
From Oron he received an elven sword. The pommel was made out of a dark wood and was long enough for one hand but had room at the base for the second hand to grip for a more powerful swing. The whole sword was slightly curved and made out of an unbreakable silver metal. Along the length of the sword from its tip to the pommel was gold elvish writing and designs. It was very graceful looking and he could tell it was perfectly balanced.  
  
Albus had rescued Corin's trunk from a Ministry holding facility so he received his Firebolt, photo album, and invisibility cloak back as well as the pieces of his wand that the shadow controlling Dumbledore had hidden in his office. He was also given a ring which he placed on right index finger. It was a beautiful gold ring with a ruby imbedded in the center, and around the band was carved a phoenix in intricate detail starting with its head to the left side of the stone and ending with its fiery tail on the right side.  
  
"It's a magical ring," The headmaster explained, "All you have to do is look into the stone and think about a person you'd like to see and an image of that person will form inside the stone. It will even find someone in an unplottable place, so you can make sure your friends are alright or find someone who is in danger."  
  
Finally was the gift from Laurea. She had been very close-lipped about his present, and even with hours of begging, he had no idea what it could be. He gave her a confused look as she got up and left the room, then came back carrying a box with air holes that she'd retrieved from the closet. He looked at the box warily but felt a bit better when he reminded himself that she didn't have the same obsession with dangerous animals as Hagrid. Slowly, he opened the lid. Curled up in the bottom of the box was what looked like two kittens. One was dark-silver and one light-silver, both with black spots.  
  
"'Rea, what...?" Laurea reached into the box and lifted the dark kitten out and placed him in Corin's arms, then reached for the light silver cub and placed it in her own lap. Up close, he could see his was a miniature version of Stealth, but the difference was that the small feline had two silky black feathered wings poking out of its shoulders.  
  
"They are Knealins, winged miniature versions of leopards. They will grow to be about half the size of Stealth, but are incredibly fast and have telekinetic powers. And when they bond to us as familiars, we'll be able to talk to them telepathically in about nine months as soon as they've matured enough. I've named mine Calie which means light."  
  
The little knealin in his lap opened his eyes sleepily and yawned, showing his sharp baby teeth. It looked around the room drowsily then turned its gaze to Corin. Startling blue eyes bore into his own, and he felt a connection form between their two minds that could only be broken in death.  
  
"I'll name him Artue which means noble." He smiled at Artue who was looking at him curiously. The small knealin was about as long as his forearm and his fur was incredibly soft. Calie had woken up by now and had bonded with 'Rea. Calie had the same beautiful blue eyes as Artue and Corin figured the two were brother and sister.  
  
"Corin and Oron, why don't you two go up and get everything you need for watching the movies, we'll set a table and the couches up down here." Serie suggested, "Albus, would you like to stay the night in the guest room so you don't end up apparating back to Hogwarts at two in the morning?" The headmaster agreed and the rest of the night was spent watching the movies and eating snacks until early the next morning. 


	13. The Proposition

Chapter 13 A Proposition  
  
A couple of weeks had gone by since his birthday party and Corin was keeping busy. Weapons training had continued with the siblings and due to being such a fast learner, he was almost up to the same level as his teachers. He had been keeping in touch with Dumbledore as well who kept him up to date on the wizarding world. Voldemort had been furious at the revelation of Harry Potter's innocence and the freedom of Dumbledore and had started attacking more frequently and ruthlessly. Albus had also revealed his concerns at finding a new DADA teacher and worries that Voldemort would grow bold enough in the coming year to attack Hogwarts.  
  
Corin lay in the backyard of the house watching the sunset while the two Knealin cubs played in the grass. The cubs had grown very quickly and were now the size of small housecats. Their wings weren't mature enough yet to fly, but that didn't keep them from trying. The two elves had to constantly watch their familiars to make sure they didn't get it into their heads to jump off of something high in their impatience to fly. Artue had jumped on Calie and was in the process of chewing on her ear when Corin decided to rescue the female knealin from his familiar.  
  
"Artue, tula sinome." (Artue, come here.) The little dark-silver and black cub trotted up the slight hill to the elf and watched curiously as Corin wrapped a towel he'd summoned around his arm. "We are going to start exercising your wings, since you're so impatient to fly." He lifted the knealin to perch on his forearm. "Now, hold onto the towel with your claws and flap your wings." He lifted his arm up and down and watched amused as Artue strained his little wings trying to take off. This went on for a good ten minutes when they were interrupted.  
  
Corin heard phoenix song on the night wind and turned in surprise as Fawkes soared over the trees and landed next to him.  
  
"Fawkes, mankoi naa lle sinome?" (Fawkes, why are you here?) He placed Artue in his lap as he asked this and Fawkes trilled and gestured with his head to a letter tied to his leg. "Lekmee ten'amin?" (A letter for me?) He untied it and scratched the phoenix on the neck as he read the letter from his old headmaster.  
  
_Dear Corintur,  
  
I hope this letter finds you well. The wizarding world is still somewhat chaotic at the moment. Voldemort has been frequently attacking muggle cities and it's all the aurors and obliviators can do to keep our world secret from the muggles. Since the revelation of your innocence there have been more and more calls for impeachment in regards to Cornelius Fudge. The vote will take place this weekend and from what I hear from my contacts in the Ministry, the majority is for impeachment. If he is voted out, one of the candidates is likely to be Arthur Weasley and perhaps Amelia Bones as well.  
  
Now, to get to the reason for my letter. I sent Fawkes with two letters; one to you and one to the elven council. As you know, I am very concerned with how daring Voldemort is getting and I'm worried that his next target will be Hogwarts sometime in the coming school year. Therefore, I have written the elven council in hopes that they will send a score or so of elves to help guard and possibly fight.  
  
Now you're probably wondering why I'm writing you about this. Corin I'd like to ask you to consider becoming one of the DADA professors. I know what this would mean to you, coming back to teach and work along side the ones who betrayed you. All I ask is that you consider it. If you accept, you would be teaching years one through four and Sirius and Remus would teach years five through seven. I ask this for several reasons. One is that if Voldemort does come to Hogwarts, I'd like you with me when we face him. Another is purely an educational standpoint, the students would benefit greatly from a teacher with experience in both elven and wizarding magic. The last reason for me to ask this is that I believe that being around your old friends would go a long way in healing you. You wouldn't have to tell them who you are, in fact, I would recommend not to until you are ready to forgive. I know it would be hard, but you could do it.  
  
Another class I would like to have this term is wandless fighting. I would like it if you could teach this class as well, but if you are not ready to come back to Hogwarts, perhaps you could recommend someone to teach. It would be mainly hand-to-hand combat, perhaps some staff, sword or dagger fighting for the more advanced students. You are my first choice for this position, but I leave the decision up to you.  
  
Please consider my offer Corin, I do not ask it lightly. Take this week to think about it and reply when you have made a decision.  
  
Yours sincerely,  
  
Albus Dumbledore  
  
Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, _

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards  
_  
By the time he'd finished reading his jaw was hanging open. Artue batted at his nose and he barely blinked. This was how Laurea found him, starring dumbstruck at the letter in his hand.  
  
"Corin, mani naa raika?" (Corin, what is wrong?) When she spoke, he snapped out of his daze and silently handed the letter to her. While she down next to him and read it, he absently stroked Artue's coat who purred so loudly it almost sounded like a growl. When she had finished, she turned to him and stared into his eyes. Her ice blue gaze bore into his own, and he almost felt as if she was reading all his thoughts and emotions, trying to judge if he was ready for this.  
  
"Mani uma lle noa 'Rea?" (What do you think 'Rea?) She chewed on her lower lip, then slowly nodded as she made a decision.  
  
"Auta mela," (Go love,) She said softly, "Dumbledore maure lle." (Dumbledore needs you.) He thought for awhile longer, then nodded his agreement.  
  
"Quel'sai." (Very well.) He decided, then looked at her pensively. "But what about Sirius and Remus? Not to mention Ron and Hermione will be in their sixth year."  
  
Laurea thought for a moment, "Be aloof, to the point of being snobbish. Only let close those who you trust. You won't have to worry about teaching Ron and Hermione unless they decide to take the wandless fighting class, in which case you'll have perhaps five other elves helping you teach, including me." He looked up, surprised. "You didn't think I'd let my soul-mate go off by himself did you?"  
  
He gave a relieved smile and she leaned her head against his shoulder as he put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. They watched as the stars began to come out in the twilight sky and snuggled together thinking about what would come in the next few weeks.  
  
---------  
  
Corin, Laurea, and twenty other elves stood at the gates of Kalayaana saying farewell to family and friends a week later. They would arrive a week before school started in which time Corin would meet the other teachers, attend staff meetings and prepare for his classes which would start on the first of the month. The other elves would get to know the layout of Hogwarts and courtesy of The Marauder's Map, know every hidden passage as well. Oron was coming also, joining the elven guard and helping Corin, Laurea and three other elves in the wandless fighting class.  
  
Finally it was about five minutes until the portkey (an elven rope) was set to activate. Last minute hugs were given and everyone took their places.  
  
"Tenna' ento lye omenta." (Until next we meet.) One of the elders said in farewell to the group.  
  
"Tenna' san." (Until then.) They replied as the portkey activated and the group disappeared.

* * *

Hey all, if you've read my story before, you might be able to tell I've made a few changes. Some parts that I felt were unclear were expanded upon. Also in a review, someone mentioned it was hard to remember everyone's names 'cause I used so many 'A' names. (so sue me, my name starts with an A...) So I changed Aarien (Laurea, Oron, Aranel, and Ailin's mother) to Serie. The name Aarien never seemed to fit anyways. Serie sounds more elvish... (to me anyways.)  
  
Oh, also, jeangab057 asked which elvish site I used to write the elvish in my story. I used two primary sites:  
  
http:e. I used it to find almost all of my character names. Each of the names were chosen based on 1. if they sounded like they would fit the character, and 2. on the meaning of the name. For example, Laurea means 'golden', Aranel means 'princess', Soron 'eagle', Isilmolor 'moonlit dream', Serie 'peace', and so on. I had fun choosing them!! ;D  
  
I've gotten Chapter 14 about halfway done and it should be up soon. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed, I have enjoyed reading all of them. Well, that's all. Please continue to leave reviews and feel free to give suggestions on how I can make Harry Potter and the Sanctuary of Light better.  
  
Arye 


	14. Mae Govannen

Chapter 14 Mae Govannen  
  
Professor McGonagall stood outside the main doors of Hogwarts waiting for the group of elves to arrive. Her face was a bit more lined than it had been the year before and her hair a bit greyer due to worry for the future and regrets about the previous year's mistakes.  
  
_We should have known, such a sweet boy could never have done something that horrible. Not for the man who murdered his parents, who had hunted him since he was a year old. What fools we were...  
_  
She shook her head tiredly. Regrets wouldn't fix the past. She would have continued on this train of thought but at that moment the group of elves appeared with a pop. She straightened and studied them curiously. Her only previous experience with elves was the short period of time Laurea Isilmolor had stayed at Hogwarts. None of the elves stumbled when the portkey arrived; indeed their balance was so good, they barely flinched when they landed. All were looking around curiously except two elves towards the front. One had black hair streaked with dark silver, the other a familiar reddish-brown head with golden streaks that shone in the sun.  
  
"Miss Isilmolor?" The professor's voice rang softly across the space separating them and Laurea who had been conversing with the elf at her side looked up at her old professor, an unreadable expression on her face. The two separated from the rest of the group, who were still looking around at the castle and grounds with interest, and joined her on the castle steps.  
  
"Professor," she nodded then gestured to the elf at her side, "let me introduce you to Corintur Raumoraa, one of the new Defense teachers and primary teacher of the wandless fighting class. Corin, this is Professor Minerva McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher and Deputy Headmistress."  
  
Corin stepped forward and took her extended hand in his, bowing slightly. "I'm pleased to meet you Professor." The young elf said softly, she could see he was a bit uncertain and wondered if he'd never met a human before. _That could certainly explain it_, she supposed.  
  
"I'm pleased to meet you as well Corintur." She replied, "I am sure you'll be an excellent teacher. Feel free to stop by my office if you need any help or advice; and please call me Minerva." She gave him a tired yet warm smile. By that time, the rest of the elves had made their way over to stand behind them and waited to be escorted into the school.  
  
Noticing this, McGonagall nodded to everyone and spoke, "Welcome to Hogwarts, if you'll follow me I'll show you to your rooms." She turned and led the way up the stairs and through the massive front doors.  
  
As they walked through the halls of Hogwarts, Corin saw that nothing about the castle had changed in the time he'd been away. He was aware of Laurea and Oron glancing at him from time to time, seeing how he was taking being back at the school, but paid little attention as he was overwhelmed by memories; both good and bad. They were walking down a hallway at the Northern end of the school when they were met by Peeves.  
  
He came zooming out of a classroom, cackling and throwing erasers and chalk at paintings (whose occupants protested quite loudly and ran for shelter). He skidded to a stop as he saw the Professor and her entourage.  
  
"Ooooooo!!! Ickle elfies..." He gave an evil grin and fingered the rest of the erasers in his hands gleefully.  
  
"_Peeves!!!_ Don't you _dare!!!"_ McGonagall hissed, fearful that the poltergeist would attack her elven guests.  
  
"Oh but Peeves must!!" He did a somersault in the air and continued, "Must give a warm welcome to the ickle elfies!!!" He drew back one of the chalk filled erasers for a throw when Corin stepped forward with a small smile and pointed his hand towards the poltergeist. The erasers and chalk winked out of existence and for good measure, he whispered a couple words in elvish and turned Peeves pink. At seeing his new color, Peeves gave a screech and zoomed away over their heads.  
  
McGonagall and the rest of the elves laughed and continued on their way. Finally they found themselves in the teacher's wing and were led to stand in front of a painting of a unicorn drinking from a forest pond on starlit night.  
  
"Mae govannen." (Well met) As she spoke the password, the unicorn lifted its head and bowed, then swung the painting open. When they had walked inside they were met with the sight of a common room unlike any Corin had ever seen. The whole far wall was full of windows except where the fireplace was and the whole room was full of light. Paintings on the walls depicted scenes of unicorns and elven hunting parties and the room was decorated in green and gold. Several couches and tables were scattered around the room on a beautiful hardwood floor.  
  
"Male elves are in the staircase to the right and females to the left; each room has two beds and I'll leave it to you who you share a room with. To change the password, all you need to do is tell the unicorn. Mr. Raumoraa, as you're a professor, we've given you a room of your own. It is down this way." She gestured towards the door and he followed her out.  
  
She led the way further down the hall to a painting of a phoenix. "Tindome." (Starry evening) The phoenix trilled and opened to his rooms. These were decorated in dark blue and silver. Again, the far wall was filled with windows around the fireplace and had a dark wood floor. Bookshelves lined the wall to his right with Defense Against the Dark Arts books and paintings of running deer and sleeping dragons filled the other walls.  
  
"Thank you Professor, it looks quite comfortable." He said when he had finished examining the room.  
  
"There is an office through the door on your right and the bedroom is through the door on your left. If you ever need anything you can call a house elf by ringing the bell over there on the mantle." He nodded and she pulled a pocket watch out and checked the time. "It's three o'clock now, at four-thirty we have a staff meeting with just the teachers. That will last for about an hour and dinner is at six. The headmaster is planning on meeting with the rest of the elves at around eight tonight to go over patrol schedules." He nodded again quietly and she smiled slightly at his 'shyness' then headed towards the door. "It's good to have you here Corintur." She said as she left.  
  
When the painting over the doorway had closed, he turned back to the room. The only sounds heard were the snuffling of the sleeping dragon as it puffed smoke rings from its nose, the sound of hooves pounding the ground from the picture of the deer, and the crackle of the fire.  
  
"Tula n'e Miri, Artue." (Come out Miri, Artue.) He released the invisibility charms on the snidget and knealin who had both been sitting on his shoulders, unseen by the professor. He had decided on not revealing either animal's presence to anyone for the time being as it would raise too much curiosity and questions. Miri had been in her usual spot on the right side of his collar and Artue had been in his new favorite place on his left shoulder. _Lazy little furball, he can walk on his own, but nooo. He needs to be riding on my shoulder. Whines incessantly until I pick him up and let him sit there.  
_  
Corin rolled his eyes as he sat on one of the chairs by the fireplace and watched his little friends explore their new home. Miri flitted and shot around the room almost too quickly to watch, she was especially interested in the picture of the dragon and tried poking the canvas to wake it up. He chuckled as the reptile opened a grumpy eye and gave an indignant huff.  
  
Artue was padding along the floor by the bookshelves and Corin jumped up as the little rascal started chewing on the binding of one of the books.  
  
"Artue, tampa tanya!" (Artue, stop that!) He waved a hand and moved the books on the first and second bottom shelves to some of the upper shelves, then picked up the furry trouble-maker and set him on one of the couches. Artue stared wide eyed around him at his new location then promptly climbed on the back of the couch and launched himself into the air, flapping his wings and fell straight down to the ground. Grumbling about insane familiars who don't have enough sense to know their limitations, he checked the knealin to see if he was alright. Artue was fine so Corin just shook his head and set him down by one of the windows where he could look out at the grounds.  
  
It was strange to be back at Hogwarts, and even stranger to be there as a teacher. He stared into the fire, but didn't really see it as he thought pensively about what the coming school year would bring.

* * *

Hey! Thanks for all the reviews! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Again, feel free to give me suggestions on how i can do better (spelling/grammar mistakes, etc...) R&R!!

Arye


	15. Staff Meeting

Chapter 15 Staff Meeting  
  
Corin arrived in the Teacher's Lounge at ten minutes before the meeting was set to start. It was a long paneled room with several desks along the wall by the windows and about fifteen mismatched, comfortable looking armchairs were arranged in a circle in the center of the room. Several teachers were there already, going over teaching plans or chatting quietly to each other while they waited for everyone else to arrive.  
  
McGonagall was talking with Professor Sprout about her lesson plans and what types of plants the students would be working with that year. Vector, the Arithmancy teacher, was seated a couple of chairs away from them immersed in her work with several scrolls and books scattered in her lap and on the floor around her chair. Snape was seated apart from everyone with a very sour look on his face, which only got darker as Trelawney sat next to him trying to convince him to let her read his palm. Corin could tell even from a distance that the Potions master was just moments away from blowing up at the old fraud and moved to sit in a chair as far from the two as possible.  
  
Fortunately, as Snape was in the process of opening his mouth to blast her with his temper and tell just what he thought of her 'Inner Eye', Dumbledore walked through the door followed by Sirius, Remus and Hagrid. Corin's lips tightened and his eyes narrowed imperceptibly, but none of these reactions were noticed as the last teachers to arrive took their seats.  
  
"Welcome everyone to another year." The Headmaster stated as everyone quieted down and got ready to start the meeting. "I'd like to introduce two new people to our teaching staff Messrs Sirius Black and Corintur Raumoraa as well as the return of Mr. Remus Lupin, all of whom will be sharing the job of teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts." The rest of the teachers clapped politely and Dumbledore continued. "We will also be hosting this year a group of twenty other elves besides Corintur who will have the job of helping guard Hogwarts and a few will also be assisting Corin with an optional wandless defense class."  
  
The teachers looked curiously at Corin and he shifted uncomfortably, disliking the attention and was relieved when Dumbledore continued speaking. "I realize some of you might think asking for elven support is a bit extreme in guarding Hogwarts this year, goodness knows I've been told that by Fudge more times than I can count, but I can assure you it's necessary. As much as I hope I am wrong, I think we can expect an attack from Voldemort sometime in the coming school year." Worried mutters went around the room at that while Corin just sat calmly and aloofly observing them. He noticed Remus watching him quizzically, possibly wondering at his lack of response, but ignored the stare and turned back to Dumbledore.  
  
The meeting went on to outline other preparations designed to keep the students safe on their way to school on the Hogwarts Express, at the school itself and on Hogsmead weekends. Five elves and five teachers would be on duty aboard the train on September 1st and the same number would be patrolling the streets of Hogsmead when students were present. When they got through all the security measures planned, the topic moved on to less serious matters.  
  
"This year we are planning two balls." Dumbledore informed them, chuckling at some of the groans. "The first will be on Halloween as a costume ball. Years one through three will be having costume parties in their common rooms and four through seven will be in the Great Hall for the main ball. We have secured the Weird Sisters band to play music thanks to Professor Sinstra's connections to the group through her second cousin's husband's great-aunt." He gave a cheerful smile to the astronomy professor and continued. "The second will be the Yule Ball directly before the start of winter break at which the Weird Sisters have also agreed to play for. I'd like at least eight teachers there to help supervise in case Voldemort chooses to attack on either of these occasions."  
  
Most of the teachers raised their hands including Corin (and Snape as well, though grudgingly), and Dumbledore nodded. "Very well." He pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time. "It is five thirty; I think we will close for now. There will most likely be a shorter meeting in a few days for last minute announcements and patrol assignments. So I will see you in a half an hour in the Great Hall for dinner."  
  
With that, he stood from his chair and made his way over to Corin as the rest of the teachers stood and either left the room or stayed chatting with one another.  
  
"How do you like Hogwarts so far Corintur?" Dumbledore asked with an amused look on his face.  
  
Corin raised an eyebrow at the question. "It is a beautiful school Headmaster; one can feel its history by just walking its halls." He stood from his chair and made his way towards the far wall to look out one of the many windows at the grounds. Dumbledore followed him and joined him in looking out the window. Corin watched him out of the corner of his eye. Albus looked serene, however he could see the man wanted to say something but was hesitating.  
  
"Corin... I'd like you to speak with Professors Black and Lupin."  
  
Corin gave him a sharp look. "Why sir?"  
  
"You need to discuss lesson plans with them. Find out what each other are planning on teaching so you don't duplicate lessons. It need not last long, just long enough to exchange information."  
  
Corin turned back to the window and thought for a moment, then nodded. "Very well." He said softly.  
  
"I will introduce you." He gestured towards the right side of the room where Sirius and Remus were talking next to a table holding tea and several types of biscuits. He could see shadows under both of their eyes and felt a twinge of sadness when he'd remembered how he had looked up to and trusted them. They straightened when they saw the Headmaster and Corin headed their way.  
  
"Sirius, Remus, this is Corintur Raumoraa. As you know he will be teaching first through fourth years. I decided to introduce you and let you go over lesson plans." Dumbledore finished his introduction and left with a small nod to them.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Corintur." Sirius held his hand out and Corin shook it stiffly.  
  
"Likewise." His face was blank and there was an uncomfortable silence.  
  
Finally, Remus rescued them. "Why don't we go sit at one of the tables by the windows and go over what each of us has planned." They headed over and sat down, Remus and Sirius on one side and Corin on the other.  
  
When no one said anything, Corin spoke. "Professor Lupin, did the Headmaster say you've taught DADA before? Perhaps you could give me an idea of what you taught which years and I can base my schedule off of that. I am familiar with wizarding magic, but I'm not sure what spells are appropriate for which grades."  
  
Remus nodded and took a sip of his tea. "Yes, I think I have my class notes from a couple of years ago in my rooms. I could bring them with me to dinner for you to look at. But I believe I focused on simple defensive spells like 'expelliarmus' for first years, I did shielding spells and began an introduction on dark creatures for second year, expanded on dark creatures for third years and did moderate to hard spells for fourth years."  
  
Corin nodded and thought for a moment, "That sounds like a good schedule. I also might go into elvish magic with the fourth years. It would be good for them to hear how different types of magic works."  
  
Sirius got a curious look on his face. "How does elvish magic differ from wizarding magic?"  
  
Corin hesitated, already this conversation had gone on longer than he had intended. Finally he gave a soft sigh and answered. "Wizards have magical cores inside them and use wands to focus that magic and incantations to give the desired results. Elves are magical beings, our very essence is made of magic and we draw not only on the magic in ourselves, but on the magic around us. We don't use incantations, instead we ask the magic to do what we want, either verbally or mentally, and it responds." At the end of his explanation, Sirius and Remus looked fascinated.  
  
"Do you think you could come into a couple of our classes as a guest speaker and tell them about elvish magic also? It's really very fascinating; I think all of the upperclassmen would really benefit from hearing a lecture on your people's magic and culture."  
  
Corin hesitated, if he agreed, that would mean teaching his former friends. "Let me know when you want me to do this, if I'm not available, I can get one of my friends to give the lecture. They would be just as good as me and would be able to answer any questions the students may have." Remus and Sirius nodded to this and Sirius checked the clock by the door.  
  
"It's ten till, let's head back to our rooms. Remus can get his class notes and we can get ready for dinner." All three stood and headed out the door.  
  
"See you at dinner Corintur."  
  
"Yes, until then."

* * *

This has been so fun writing this story!! Thanks again to everyone who's reviewed.

Arye


	16. In Time Out

Chapter 16 In Time Out  
  
Around twenty minutes later, Corin was seated at the Head Table eating dinner. Laurea sat on one side of him, McGonagall on the other and the rest of the elves were seated at a smaller table at the front and to the right of the house tables. Laurea had met him at the door to his rooms and they had walked down together. They had been eating quietly when she turned to him and spoke to him softly in elvish.  
  
"How did it go today?"  
  
"As well as could be expected. It was hard, though. I had to speak with Remus and Sirius about lesson plans." He gave a small smile. "They all think I'm incredibly shy and don't look any further than that."  
  
She was about to reply when they heard a jingling sound. He looked up at the doors just in time to see two streaks of brown and dark-silver jet past. Corin and Laurea looked at each other in apprehension, guessing what it was.  
  
"MrrrOWrrrrrr!!" The sound of an angry cat echoed from the entry hall and into the Great Hall and the professors glanced at each other, wondering what was going on. Corin was about to stand from his chair when Miri zoomed into the room to hover in front of his face.  
  
"Miri, what...?" He looked at the snidget in confusion and the small golden bird sent him an image of Artue cornering Mrs. Norris at the end of the hall. Her fur was stuck up and she looked ready to attack the Knealin cub.  
  
"ARTUE!!!" He stood and made his way quickly towards the doors. The professors and elves could hear his conversation from where they sat.  
  
"What do you think you're doing you idiotic little furball???" They heard a small mewing sound and grinned as Corin continued his one-sided conversation. "Chasing the kitty??" There was an affirmative squeak and Corin entered the Great Hall with Artue dangling by his neck from Corin's fist and was being held up in front of the elf's face while they 'talked'. "And since when have you been able to mind-speak?" Artue made a small purring bark-like sound. "A week??? And you didn't think to inform me of this why???" Artue gave a grumpy squawk. "Because I wouldn't let you fly..." Corin said dryly. "Artue, you can't fly yet, I've told you a thousand times, your wings aren't mature enough." There was a hmmmph from the knealin and Corin rolled his eyes. "Anyways, back to the reason you're dangling from my hand by your neck. You are not allowed to chase Mrs. Norris or terrorize any of the students' pets when they get here in a week." Artue gave another mewing sound. "No, I don't care if you were bored. If you're bored, come to me and I'll find something for you to do. Now, as your punishment, you have to sit in the corner and stare at the wall while I finish my dinner." At that he set the little winged leopard down on the floor in the corner behind him and sat back down at the head table.  
  
The entire table watched as he sat down and put his head in his hands. His shoulders started shaking and they heard a sob-like sound come from him. He lifted his head to look at Laurea and she saw tears of mirth streaming down his face as he laughed. That was all it took before everyone at the table was laughing hysterically. Even Snape was laughing quietly, though he tried to hide the fact behind his tea cup. No one would admit it, but everyone except for Mr. Filch (who luckily wasn't there at the moment) hated Mrs. Norris. Finally they had all calmed down enough to talk; Hagrid was the first to speak.  
  
"Is that a knealin yeh've got there Corintur?"  
  
"Yes, as you've probably gathered, his name is Artue. I got him for my birthday. He and his sister, Laurea's knealin Calie, are both about five weeks old." He was about to go back to eating when he added, "Oh, and if he manages to escape again, he has a habit of chewing on books, knocking stuff over and jumping off of tall things. So get him back to me as soon as possible."  
  
They heard an inquisitive purr and turned to see Artue had turned his head and was looking at them. Corin rolled his eyes as he heard the knealin's question. "No, this does not mean you can get up. Even though we laughed, you are still in trouble." There was an indignant sniff and Artue turned his back on the group once more. Corin shook his head resignedly and continued eating.  
  
When dinner was through, Corin retrieved Artue from his corner and set him on his shoulder as they headed towards the door. He had also been questioned about Miri as well and had given the story behind finding her. Remus had given him a folder of class notes at the beginning of dinner, and he thumbed through it as he walked, scanning its contents. Third year's lessons were just as he remembered, and it was interesting to see what the other years had learned under Professor Lupin. He really had been quite a brilliant teacher.  
  
"Hey Corin, wait up!" Corin turned back as he reached the doors of the great hall and waited for Laurea to reach him.  
  
"Hey." He held his hand towards her and she took it in her own with a smile. As they left the Great Hall, they encountered Filch with Mrs. Norris in his arms. The cat stiffened when it saw Artue and hissed as the hair on it's back stood up. Artue sent the cat an evil smirk and gave a sinister growl.  
  
"Watch your language, furball." Corin admonished the knealin, "Though where you learned such an insult, I don't want to know." Artue gave a squeak. "Well then, no more talking to Peeves for you."  
  
Laurea giggled at the two, who were still bickering back and forth, and shook her head. She was just glad that Calie didn't give her as much trouble as Artue did Corin. Her own knealin was the exact opposite of Artue. Quiet and shy, although when she got together with Artue she became quite adventurous. _I think he's a bad influence on her..._ She grinned and squeezed Corin's hand. He cut off the now silent staring contest with Artue and sent his soul-mate a warm smile.  
  
"Want to see my rooms?" He asked, "They're pretty classy; we can sit in front of the fireplace and get some time to ourselves."  
  
"Yes, lets. How are your rooms different from the ones I'm staying in or the House dorms?" She asked, and he went on to describe them.  
  
"...though I had to move the books on the bottom shelves up so 'the furball' couldn't get to them." Artue gave a squeaking sound and flapped his tiny black wings. "Yes, but you _can't _fly yet now can you?" Corin retorted. At that moment they reached the phoenix portrait. "Tindome." The phoenix gave a trill, lifted its wings as if to fly, and opened the door to Corintur's rooms.  
  
"Why, it's beautiful!" When she had finished exploring his rooms, she walked over to the windows on the far wall and looked out at the sunset-lit grounds. Corin set Artue on the couch, then made his way over to Laurea and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. She sighed in contentment and leaned back against him as they watched the sun set behind the Forbidden Forest together.  
  
"You can do this Corin." Corin started at the sound of her voice, not expecting her to speak. "It will be hard, but you will get through this, love." He nodded silently, his cheek rubbing against hers, and sighed.  
  
"Yes I will, but thank Merlin I'll have you here with me." She smiled and snuggled against him.  
  
"Always love, always."

* * *

Awwww!!! I love writing fluffy moments between Corin and Laurea!! Sorry it took so long getting this last chapter up. I went camping at the beach this last weekend. (I hate mosquitoes!!!)

Anyways, thanks for all the reviews!!! (Yay, I'm up to 90 now!!) I always read them and have gotten some very good advice on how to make my story better. So thanks again.

Arye


	17. Mist

Chapter 17 Mist  
  
_Why did I volunteer for this again?_ Corin sighed as he stood against the wall on Platform 9 ¾ watching students arriving for Hogwarts. It was loud with the chatter of students, the hoots of owls, and the banging of luggage going onto the train. He along with Oron and three other elves as well as Professors Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, Black and Lupin had all signed up (or been volunteered by Dumbledore) to guard the platform and train in case of attack. They were joined by about ten aurors from the ministry who would just be staying until the train left. _Most likely here so Fudge could gain back his popularity since my escape and the news of my innocence reached the public_, he thought. He gave a small smirk as he remembered the damning articles by the Daily Prophet in regards to the Minister's incompetence, stupidity, selfishness... the list of descriptions by the reporters went on and on, much to Corin's delight.  
  
He would have continued on this train of thought, but the whistle on the Hogwarts Express blew, signaling its imminent departure. There was a scramble of students running for the train doors and multiple heads poking out windows waving and saying last goodbyes. Corin ignored all of this and made his way to the last car of the train. His job was to guard the door and platform at the end of the train while others patrolled the hallways and guarded the driver's car.  
  
After he'd reached his destination, he leaned casually against the doorframe and watched the tracks and scenery race out behind him as the train picked up speed. Many students on their way to their compartments stopped and stared at him, wondering who he was and why he was there. Corin ignored them and continued looking intently out the back of the train, scanning the sky and landscape for possible threats.  
  
There were three students whom he found particularly hard to ignore: Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. About an hour into the trip, they came back from the prefect's meeting at the front of the train and began patrolling the hallways. All three had grown quite a bit since he'd last seen them. Ron had grown taller, if that was even possible, and more muscular as well. Hermione and Ginny had both blossomed into beautiful young women. Hermione's hair was smoother than he remembered, though it frizzed out a bit from the wind. Ginny had grown several inches as well and had grown her hair out so that by now it reached her mid-back.  
  
They were different from what he remembered, and not just physically. They were quieter, more worn looking. He could see bags under their eyes from lack of sleep and all of them looked like they had recently lost weight. And when he looked into their eyes under the assumption of scanning the corridor, he could see pain and sadness that was barely concealed. He tried to feel at least a little sorry for the pain they were in, but couldn't help feeling that they'd brought it on themselves.  
  
He turned away before they caught him observing them and clenched his jaw tightly. He was so close to just marching up to them and yelling for the world to hear about how they'd betrayed him. After taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself down and sighed. _Thank Merlin I don't have to deal with teaching them... _He glanced back out the window and straightened as he saw something in the distance. To a human it would only be a black blur, but with his keen elven eyes he could see clearly what it was. Fifteen black-clad riders on brooms were speeding their way towards the train, wands raised to attack.  
  
Moving quickly, he pushed a button next the doorframe and an alarm started sounding. Then casting the elvish equivalent of 'sonorus' he began speaking as he readied his weapons. "Attention all students and escorts; a group of about fifteen riders on brooms are on their way to intercept the train. All students stay in your compartments and be ready to defend yourselves should the need arise."  
  
After he'd ended the spell, he opened the door and stepped out into the wind and onto the platform. Corin's hair streamed out behind him as he stood waiting for the riders to come into range. He could hear the panicked voices of students behind him and glared at the approaching deatheaters, raising his chin defiantly. _Not one student on this train will be harmed if I have anything to say about it. And when the time comes for them to actually fight, I will make sure they're ready._ He drew his bow from a small pouch in the dagger holster at his hip, then enlarged it and strung it in seconds. He drew and enlarged an arrow from a belt pouch at his waist, took careful aim as the train's pursuers came into range and fired.  
  
Before they knew what was happening one of the lead riders fell to the ground and lay still. They weren't dead, elves don't kill unless absolutely necessary. Instead, the arrows are spelled to only hit the person so far as to give them a fairly large bruise and to prick them with the point of the arrowhead which was coated in an extremely strong sleeping potion. The potion would knock the victim out for about five hours unless given the antidote.  
  
Lightning fast, he drew arrow after arrow from his pouch and fired. By then the deatheaters had caught on and had broken up to make smaller targets of themselves, not that it helped them much. He had taken out about four when they started firing back. The spells were absorbed by a shield he'd set up while warning the train, but when they started trying to pelt him with unforgivables he had to duck behind the wall next to the door. Even an elvish shield wasn't strong enough to block those spells. He was about to dart out to fire once more when a small round object came flying through the door and shatter on the ground in the middle of the corridor.  
  
A yellow mist started swirling around him and he could see it heading down the length of the train. His eyes watered and he struggled to hold his breath against the fumes, but he could feel the smoke making its way down his nostrils and into his lungs. Suddenly, he was thrown forward to the ground and he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as he was hit by a cutting curse. He would have hit himself for forgetting about the deatheaters if he'd been thinking clearly, but the yellow smoke had begun to affect him. He could feel himself becoming lightheaded where he lay numbly on the floor and he could see terrifying shadows darting in and out of his vision. The logical side of him knew that these were just hallucinations, but he still had a hard time stopping himself from panicking.  
  
Closing his eyes, Corin concentrated on slowing his breathing which had begun coming in quick gasps. When he'd calmed down enough, he began chanting in elvish. He could feel the magic swirling around him where he lay and focused on the immediate problem: the mist. He knew that by now, it would have been spread throughout the whole train and everyone would be experiencing its affects, from the students to the professors and elves. As his magic began to work, he could feel the mist trying to resist him and pushed harder.  
  
He was oblivious to everything around him, so he didn't notice as wind began to swirl around his motionless body, nor that his eyes had opened and were glowing a bright emerald green. All of a sudden, there was a blast of light and the magical wind tore down the length of the train, expelling the mist and leaving a fresh woodsy smell in its place. Corin barely had time to comprehend that he'd succeeded before he passed out.

* * *

"...happened to him?" A young boy's voice asked.  
  
"How should I know, we just found him here." A girl asked exasperatedly.  
  
"He looks like an elf." Another girl stated.  
  
"No he _doesn't!!"_ A second boy inserted scornfully.  
  
"Not a house elf you git! Look at his ears, they're pointed."  
  
"So?"  
  
"Do you _not_ read at all? Honestly..." The conversation probably would have continued along this vein for several more minutes, but Corin took that moment to groan and slowly open his eyes. Four young students were staring back at him, and by their lack of house colors, they were first years.  
  
"Hi!" A girl with long dark-blonde hair and small silver glasses over olive green eyes said perkily.  
  
Repressing another groan, he slowly sat up and winced as he jarred his injured shoulder. One of the boys gave him a concerned look and helped him lean against the wall. The boy helping him had dark brown hair and chocolate colored eyes. The last two students, another boy and girl, looked on as he leaned back and tried to get his bearings. The boy had light-brown hair and grey eyes while the girl had shoulder length, curly black hair and midnight blue eyes.  
  
"What happened? Where are the deatheaters?" He asked quietly, his eyes scanning the train for danger.  
  
The girl with curly black hair answered. "Either being held at the front of the train by the professors or escaped. There was an announcement couple of minutes ago. That's when me and Jemma looked outside our compartment and saw you laying there."  
  
Corin nodded, relieved that the danger was past. "That's good to know." He paused and then continued. "My name is Corintur. What are yours?"  
  
The dark haired boy who had helped him spoke first. "My name is Jackson Vail."  
  
"I'm Brice Killian." The other boy stated.  
  
"I'm Jemma Edwards, wicked ears by the way." The girl with blonde hair said and grinned impishly.  
  
"My name is Raven Jansen. Pleased to meet you."  
  
"I'm pleased to meet you as well." Corin gave them all a smile, suddenly glad he'd made the decision to come back to Hogwarts.

* * *

Woooo hooo!!! I finally got my next chapter up!!! Took me forever, I got a paragraph in and got writer's block... (sigh) LOL. Anyways, it shouldn't take as long next time for me to update.

Don't you love Jackson, Brice, Jemma and Raven? They're so cute!! I'll go into their personalities more in later chapters. They're not going to be major characters I don't think, just fun characters to insert in once in awhile to make the story fun to read.

Well, gotta go. Work tomorrow and such. bbye.


	18. Sorting By Basilisk

Chapter 18 Sorting By Basilisk  
  
Corin grimaced as he shifted once again, trying to ease the pain in his shoulder. He was once again standing guard, or rather sitting guard, by the back door of the train. His shoulder was pretty torn up; so much so that he and the elves there couldn't do much to heal it besides stop it from bleeding until they got back to Hogwarts where one of the elves who specialized in healing could help him. He also had a small cut and bruise on his left cheek where one of the passing deatheaters had kicked him. That had been cleaned, but again, he was waiting to get it healed until they reached Hogwarts.  
  
He wasn't alone in his guard duty either. The four first years had taken it upon themselves to stand guard with him and were now seated around him chatting. He found it amusing that four students could be so diverse in personalities, yet become instant best friends in a matter of minutes.  
  
Jackson had a quiet and sweet personality. And from only knowing him for about an hour, Corin could see that he was extremely intelligent. Brice was more of a hothead and a bit of a jokester as well. He and Jemma were very similar in the fact that they were very loud and always dominated the conversation. Jemma, as said before, was very loud and also very opinionated. She also was frequently hyperactive, had a quirky personality, and had a tendency to say outrageous things. Raven, however, was a bit like Jackson. She was quiet and soft-spoken. That didn't mean she was shy, just that she waited for the opportune time to speak. He knew that if provoked though, that she would probably be quite fierce.  
  
Oron and a couple of the other elves had come back to check on him. Oron had been highly amused by the four students that had all but adopted his friend as their big brother. And according to him, Corin would be 'in for it' when Laurea found that he'd been hurt. Corintur grimaced at the thought of his girlfriend's wrath for making her worry.  
  
"Corintur? How much longer till we get there?" Brice asked. The children, or rather Jemma and Brice, had been debating about whether you had to fight a basilisk in order to get sorted into houses. Brice maintained that all the first years had to fight some type of monster in order to get sorted, Jemma told him that was ridiculous and that all of the first years would be killed off if this were true. Finally they agreed to disagree. Raven and Jackson just shook their heads amused and continued playing chess; Raven was winning at the moment but it was close.  
  
"About another half hour."  
  
"Corin, how _do_ we get sorted?" Jemma asked.  
  
He gave a mischievous grin, "You know I can't tell you that."  
  
"Awww, come on... please?"  
  
"Nope."

She grumbled, then leaned back to sulk. Finally, she thought of another question. "Corin, will you be staying at the school or are you just here to guard the train?"  
  
"I'll be staying." He replied, "In fact, I'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Don't tell anyone though. We don't want to ruin the surprise for Dumbledore."  
  
"Wow, really?" Brice exclaimed, "I assumed it would be Remus Lupin. One of my older brothers had him about three years ago. I saw him on the train, so I just figured..."  
  
"Actually, he will be teaching. I'll be teaching first through fourth years and he and Professor Black will teach fifth through seventh."  
  
"Whoa, so all this time we've been sitting with a Professor? Hope we haven't implicated ourselves in anything your Professorship." Jemma said with a grin.  
  
"That's it, just for that I'm giving everyone detention for a week!!" He grinned.  
  
"Nooooo, not detention!!" Jemma and Brice cried simultaneously, then laughed when they realized that they'd copied each other.  
  
"YES!!! Detention!! I'll make you scrub chamber pots with your toothbrushes and clip the front lawn with fingernail clippers and do Snape's laundry and..."  
  
"EEEwwww!!"  
  
"Okay, maybe not that last one..." They all laughed and went back to thinking, talking, or playing chess.  
  
The attack had been short-lived according to Oron. The ten remaining deatheaters had charged through the train meeting no resistance due to the yellow mist. They had headed straight for the Weasleys' and Hermione's compartment, but had not counted on Corin using his magic to get rid of the mist. Right as they had reached the compartment door, they had been knocked over by the blast of wind and when they'd recovered, they'd found themselves surrounded by wands. No one knew the reasons for their trying to kidnap Corin's old friends, but assumed it had something to do with Voldemort's search for Harry Potter.  
  
They all looked up when there was an announcement that they were ten minutes away from the station. At Corin's insistence, the four students went back to their compartments to change into their uniforms. After they'd finished, they sat back down next to Corin for the remainder of the trip. When the train began to slow, they stood and helped Corin to his feet.  
  
When they'd stopped, Corin spoke. "Alright, let's go. You don't need to bring your luggage with you. The house elves will get it and it will be waiting for you when you get to your dorms." The four now suddenly nervous students nodded shakily and followed him out the door and onto the station platform in Hogsmead.  
  
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" Corin escorted his four young friends over to Hagrid amid the rush of students.  
  
"Hello Hagrid."  
  
"'Ello Corintur. Eh, jus' so you know, that Knealin of yours escaped again. Found 'im climbing the suits of armor in the fifth floor corridor. Gave 'im to your girlfriend to watch 'til yeh got back."  
  
Corin sighed exasperated, and shook his head tiredly. "Thanks Hagrid." He turned to the four students behind him who were eyeing the large Professor cautiously. "Jackson, Raven, Brice and Jemma, meet Hagrid. Hagrid, meet four new first years who helped me on the train after the attack."  
"A pleasure ter meet yeh. Speaking of, we'd best be goin' if we want ter make it to the feast on time. Firs' years this way! Follow me." Lantern in hand, Hagrid turned away and started leading the new students down the path towards the lake.  
  
The four students looked nervously at Corin and he made a shooing motion with his hand. "Go on, I'll see you when you get there. Good luck on your sorting! Don't worry, it isn't too painful." He grinned and they giggled, relaxing slightly and then headed down the path following Hagrid and the rest of the first years.

* * *

"Clark, Laurel."  
  
"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted.  
  
Corin clapped politely along with the rest of the teachers at the head table as the newly sorted first year made her way to her house table. He could see several glances being sent this way as he continued to watch the sorting. News of how he'd contributed to the fight on the train had made its rounds and he could see many students eyeing him curiously, not to mention the groups of giggling girls who apparently thought he was cute. He rolled his eyes at the thought.  
  
"Edwards, Jemma." The blonde haired girl grinned nervously and skipped up to the stool and sat down. McGonagall placed the hat on her head which thought silently for a moment then declared, "GRYFFINDOR!!"  
  
The sorting went on. After Cody Jacobs was placed in Hufflepuff, it was Raven's turn. Her sorting took longer than Jemma's. Finally the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" and she made her way to her house table to join her friend.  
  
Brice was placed in Gryffindor as well. Drake McGinnis went to Ravenclaw, Alton Merrow to Slytherin, Heather O'Neil to Hufflepuff, and Landon Sherk to Slytherin. Finally after Jackson, who was the last one sorted, went to Gryffindor to join his friends, Dumbledore stood.  
  
"Welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts! I will save announcements for the end of the feast, but for now: kibbitz, Bouillabaisse, widget!" As the feast appeared before their eyes, Corin chuckled at the astonished looks on the first years faces, then began loading his plate up with food.

* * *

YES! Two chapters in three days!! Some comments on my last chapter and some answers to some questions people wrote in their reviews.

1. The arrows Corin shot were normal arrows, not blunted in any way. They were simply spelled so as not to shoot through a person, just give them a huge bruise and to prick them with the tip of the arrowhead. Yes I know that falling from a speeding broom to the ground would injure them, but that would be their fault for attacking the train, not Corin's.

2. Someone else made the comment that I should have some drow elves in my story. Believe me, I'd love to do that. I'm a big fan of the Drizzt Do'Urden books and just about everything by R.A. Salvatore. But I don't think I'd be able to fit a drow into my story in such a way as to make it believeable. Maybe in some future story. But thanks for the review.

3. Like the idea of someone finding out about Corin's identity by finding out that Corintur means Harry in elvish. I'll keep it in mind. But they won't find out for a while yet.

Well, gotta go, hope you like this new chapter and can't wait to read more reviews!

Arye


	19. Old Friends

Chapter 19 Old Friends  
  
Corin ate quietly as professors chatted around him. He'd been questioned about his part in the defense of the train, but had only given very brief answers, much to their disappointment. He'd heard Sirius and Remus explaining to McGonagall their part of the fight. Both had been patrolling the train at the time and had been taken off guard by the yellow mist. It had had the same effects on them as it had on Corin: frightening hallucinations, dizziness and panicking. Fortunately, when the wind had blown the yellow mist away, they'd been able to gather themselves quickly and help defend the students. When the deatheaters had either been stupefied or had escaped, they had been scanned for spells. Apparently, their mask had been spelled to filter out the mist, and that's why it hadn't affected the deatheaters.  
  
He looked over at the Gryffindor table and watched with an amused smile the four first years he had befriended. Jemma and Brice were glaring at each other while Jackson and Raven watched in silent amusement. He was willing to bet that whatever they were arguing over was completely pointless and that only their pride kept them from backing down. He chuckled softly as Jemma grabbed a handful of peas and chucked them at Brice's head. Brice in turn took a handful of stuffing and smashed it on top of her head. He laughed outright at that which caught the attention of the other teachers. They in turn looked at the Gryffindor table as well just in time to see Jemma fling some pudding in Brice's face.  
  
Luckily the impromptu food fight didn't escalate too far because a very displeased McGonagall had made her way over and put a stop to it. She was now in the process of giving them a very long, terse lecture on how Gryffindors should behave and the immaturity of their actions. When Jemma pointed out to her that they had a right to be immature seeing as they were only eleven, five points were taken from Gryffindor by an exasperated McGonagall.  
  
Corin snorted at the first year's audacity, but went back to his meal with a smile. Finally, after dessert was finished, Dumbledore stood up and addressed the school, which had quieted down at his movement.  
  
"Again, welcome back. I have a few announcements to make. All students please note that the Forbidden Forest is, as the name suggests, forbidden. There are many creatures roaming that forest which you would not ever wish to run into. Also, as you've no doubt seen, we have several new teachers as well as a party of elves whom have agreed to help guard the school this year." He introduced Sirius, Remus, and Corin to the student body.  
  
Corin blushed at the enthusiastic response he got from the student body, particularly from the female section of it. He even got a couple of wolf whistles, much to his embarrassment. Laurea, who was sitting at the elves' table, raised her eyebrows at this and giggled at his discomfort. He glared at his soul-mate, but she just blew him a raspberry and grinned. He rolled his eyes, then returned his attention to the Headmaster.  
  
"Now, as it is late, everyone off to your dorms and to bed with you." He made a small shooing motion with his hands, then turned to chat with McGonagall again while the hall emptied.  
  
Corin finished the last few bites of his pie, then stood and began making his way back to his rooms. He had only gone a few steps when he was tapped on the shoulder. He turned and gave a small but wary smile at the expression on Laurea's face.  
  
"Where are you going, mister?"  
  
"Ummm... bed?" He asked confused.  
  
"Try again." She said and gestured towards elven party's healer, who appeared to be waiting for them a ways away.  
  
Before he could even try to say 'I'm fine', he was dragged over, plopped down in a chair and had his shirt removed. He had a deep gash going from the top of his right shoulder blade down to the base of his back. Since both the bleeding had been stopped and he'd put a numbing charm on it at the beginning of the feast, he'd forgotten about the injury completely.  
  
The students still left in the hall gapped at him, but had no time to stare as McGonagall shooed them out the door and to their common rooms. He could feel his back tingling as it began to slowly heal over and Laurea spoke.  
  
"Leave it to you to be the only one on the train besides the deatheaters to be injured." She mumbled as she studied his back.  
  
He rolled his eyes, but gave a small smirk and said slyly, "You're just mad you missed out on beating up some deatheaters."  
  
She narrowed her eyes and flicked him in the ear, to which he yelped, as elven ears are very sensitive.  
  
He was about to turn around and glare at her when he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning slightly, he froze at the sight of Ron and Hermione walking up to the head table. They didn't see him covertly staring at them as they headed straight for Sirius and Remus. The two teachers had been chatting quietly, but stopped when Corin's former friends stopped in front of them.  
  
"Hello Professors." Hermione said quietly.  
  
"Hey Hermione, Ron. How have you two been?"  
  
They glanced at each other, and then Ron answered for both of them. "We've been okay. Erm, have you heard anything about Harry?" Corin stiffened slightly at the sound of his old name and Laurea placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.  
  
Sirius got a defeated look on his face and sighed. "No. The headmaster only tells us that he's happy and that we'll have to wait until he's ready to contact us."  
  
Both students nodded, Hermione with tears in her eyes. That's what they had been told as well, but she'd been hoping...  
  
"Thanks Sirius, Remus. We'll see you in class. Goodnight." Ron said, and with that, they both began to slowly make their way out of the hall.  
  
A hand brushed his cheek comfortingly as he stared after his old friends, and he glanced up to see Laurea's face looking at him sympathetically.  
  
"_It will be alright, love. I know you'll be able to forgive them eventually, then you can be happy again_." She spoke to him in elvish.  
  
"_I am happy, beloved_."  
  
"_The elven part of you is, but the human in you still aches with sadness._" She replied.  
  
He nodded understandingly and she sat on his lap and hugged him, her arms going around his waist. They stayed like that for awhile, Corin basking in the comfort she offered. When they had finally glanced up, they saw that the entire hall had emptied and they were alone at the head table. Laughing quietly, they stood up and walked slowly back to their rooms.  
  
When Corin opened the portrait to his common room, he noticed something had changed. Glancing around cautiously, he fingered the dagger hidden up his sleeve as he studied the room. Nothing looked out of place, but there was the feeling that something wasn't right. Finally his gaze fell on Artue who was sitting calmly on the couch. As he studied the knealin closer, he noticed that Artue looked rather subdued.  
  
"Alright you rascal, what have you done this time?" Artue looked up and gave an unhappy mew, then glanced towards the side of the room. "The white fluffy thing put you in time-out?" He said skeptically as he glanced in the direction his knealin was looking, then froze at what he saw.  
  
"Hedwig..." He breathed. His old snowy owl gave him a fond hoot and flew from her perch to land on his outstretched arm. She nuzzled his cheek with her soft head and he framed her face with one hand, stroking her feathers gently as he tried to process the fact that she was back. "Where have you been girl? I would have thought you would have become one of the Hogwarts Post Owls, but I looked in the owlery and you weren't there." She gave a sniff at the thought of becoming a common Hogwarts owl and pointed out the window with her beak towards the forest.  
  
"You've been living in the Forbidden Forest?!" She gave him an affirmative hoot and nuzzled him again. "I've missed you too girl, I'm glad you're all right."

* * *

Yes!!! No more writers block!!! I'm sooo sorry for making you all wait for so long! I got halfway through this chapter and ran out of ideas. Yes, terrible of me I know. But I'm back in buisness!! Even have the next two chapters done as well!! But you don't get them yet. On one, I need to get a reference for one point in the story, then I'll get them out. So, love the reviews, can't wait to see what you think!

Arye


	20. FirstYear Insanity

Chapter 20 First-year Insanity  
  
Corin walked into the DADA classroom and set the folder with Lupin's notes on his desk. The classroom was the same one used when he'd been in school. There were several cages and aquariums set around the classroom, complements of Lupin. Sirius had added some foe glasses and several auror posters from his auror training days. Corin had used a sticking charm to mount several elvish swords, daggers and bows on the walls to finish the classroom decorations.  
  
He still had fifteen minutes before his first class started and wandered to one of the glass tanks which held a grindylow, which at the moment was squishing its face against the glass at him. There was a sound at the door and he turned as the first years started arriving. It was Gryffindor and Slytherin, apparently Albus hadn't given up hope that putting the two warring houses together in classes would make them get along. He rolled his eyes and steeled himself for the inevitable insanity to follow.  
  
"Take your seats please." The class quietly chatted as they found desks and waited for the bell to ring to signal the start of class. Finally, all the students were seated and it was time to begin his lesson.  
  
"Welcome to your first class at Hogwarts. My name is Corintur Raumoraa, but please just call me Corintur. I will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year." Quickly, he took roll, taking care to memorize names and faces. After he'd finished, he paused to study his students. The Gryffindors had seated themselves on his left, the Slytherins on his right. So far he had kept their attentions and just hoped that attention would last through the class period.  
  
"Now, as you can tell, I am an elf." He raised the hair that was covering his ears and let them get a look at the points. "You may be wondering 'what can an elf teach me about wizarding magic?' Please be reassured, I had several wizarding instructors and am fully qualified to teach you what you need to know." He paused and let them take this information in and saw a bit of relief on some of his student's faces. "I'd like to start off this year with a question and answer session. I believe that letting you know a bit about me will help me to be able to teach you better. You may ask me any questions you like within reason. For example, I may not be able to tell you anything about Hogwarts defenses or anything sacred to the elvish culture, but I'll answer all I can. So, hands up if you have a question."  
  
Predictably, Jemma was the first to have a question. "Who was that girl to drag you over to the healer last night? I'll bet she was your girlfriend! Was she? What's her name? Is she a better fighter than you? How many p--"  
  
He held up his hand to stop the torrent of questions and chuckled. "One question at a time please, Jemma. That was Laurea Isilmolor. Yes, she is my girlfriend, or more accurately my soul mate. Actually, yes, she is a better fighter than me, at some things anyway. I'll probably be bringing her in as a guest speaker sometime in the coming year, or if you take the wandless fighting class, she'll be one of the instructors. Now, next question please."  
  
A boy on the Slytherin side raised his hand next. His name was Landon Sherk if Corin recalled correctly. "Why do the elves side with Dumbledore when it's obvious The Dark Lord is going to win?" Landon's voice oozed innocence, but Corin could hear an air of superiority in his voice. The class burst out in talking, the Gryffindors yelling at the Slytherins and the Slytherins yelling back, both sides calling out insults.  
  
"Enough!" The students went silent. "I will not allow name calling in my class. As for the question, it was a fair one." He held his hand up against protests. "No, hear me out. What you need to know about elves is that they cannot serve the dark. They are born light and will always remain that way. Even under pain of death, elves will always oppose evil. Now, as for your statement of Voldemort—"the class shuddered at the name, "-- winning, that is yet to be decided. Yes, he is powerful, and he has many allies, but so does the light. Also, you must look at what he stands for, the supremacy of purebloods." Several Slytherins nodded, "That's what Voldemort pounds into his followers: death to half-bloods and muggleborns." He paused, "But why do they follow Voldemort when he himself is a half- blood?"  
  
The class froze and he went on. "Yes, it's true. His mother was a pureblood witch and a descendant of Slytherin, but his father was a muggle."  
  
Corin looked out at his stunned class and continued quietly. "Please think on this. Why follow Voldemort, when in the end he is nothing but a hypocrite? I'm not saying he isn't powerful, I just want to encourage you to think for yourselves and not blindly follow your parents' beliefs." He could see the class pondering his words and checked the clock.  
  
"Okay, we have about ten more minutes of class. I'll take about five more questions, then give you your homework."  
  
Jackson raised his hand and Corin pointed to him. "What will we be learning in this class? My older brother Jaren is a third year and told me about some of the teachers he's had. He said that some focused mainly on hands-on stuff, and others stuck mainly to book learning. I'm just wondering what your style of teaching is."  
  
"Good question. I'm going to focus mainly on defensive spells for this class. Depending on how far we get, I might bring in some magical creatures, but we'll see. I'm more of a hands-on teacher, but I will be giving you homework in the evenings that you'll have to research." Jackson nodded and Corin went onto the next person. The rest of the questions had to do with his likes and dislikes, his family, his home, and the elven culture.  
  
Finally it was the end of the period and he held up a hand to stop the questions. "Alright time to go. Homework for Wednesday: I want one roll on the charm Expelliarmus, pronunciation, wand movement, magical history, and practical use in dueling. Feel free to come to me if you have any questions. See you then!" With that, everyone stood up and headed for the door. Well, everyone except for his four guardians.  
  
"Wicked class, Oh Mighty Professorness! You didn't let me finish the question about how many pets you have though." Jemma said with a sarcastic pout.  
  
"Very well, I have three. An owl, a knealin, and a snidget."  
  
"Ooooo! What are their names?"  
  
Corin thought quickly, it wouldn't be smart to say his owl's name was Hedwig. "Er, Harmony, Artue and Miri."  
  
"Could we see them sometime Corintur?" Raven asked quietly. Her midnight-blue eyes were practically begging. How could he say no?  
  
"Sure. Maybe after class sometime." She nodded happily and after a few more words they said their goodbyes and headed off towards their next class.  
  
He checked his class schedule and saw that he didn't have another class until ten o'clock, which was in an hour with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first years. Since he didn't feel like sitting around for an hour, he headed back to his rooms.  
  
Hedwig was keeping an eye on Artue from a perch on the back of the couch. Artue had found one of Corin's old socks and was systematically shredding it. Corin raised an eyebrow, but just shook his head resignedly and sat on the couch next to his faithful owl.  
  
"Hey girl." Hedwig hooted and nuzzled his chin. "Know what, we're going to have to change how you look for awhile until I'm ready to show people who I am. You're very recognizable." She clicked her beak in annoyance at the thought of her beautiful white feathers being tainted. Then sighed in defeat and gave a soft hoot. "How about some pretty light brown feathers mixed in with the white?" He asked her. She cocked her head, and then hooted in agreement. He stroked her wings as he whispered in elvish and random feathers all over her wings turned light brown. When he was finished, he leaned back to study her. She now had a speckled look and was preening and flapping her wings, getting used to her new color.  
  
"You look beautiful." She gave an adoring hoot and hopped up onto his shoulder. "How's the name Harmony? Just until I'm ready to reveal who I am, then you can go back to the name Hedwig." She hooted again in agreement and they settled down to watch Artue some more until his next class.

* * *

Next chapter!! Aren't you excited? I might have waited longer to post this one, but one of my friends who's apparently obsessed with the story threatened to murder me if I didn't post the next one soon. (okay, so I'm exagerating this just a teensie bit...) Anyways, hope you like this one, I can't wait to post Chapter 21, it's awesome!! I've made it my new favorite chapter. Either that one or the chapter where Artue chases Mrs. Norris and Corin and him have a 'conversation'. Anyways, I'll probably upload it tomorrow morning or afternoon, so you won't have to wait too long. Lets just say I have to ask one of my friends about ferret behavior for reference. (don't you just love ferrets? I'm jealous, she owns four!!) Anyways, enough of me babbling!

Arye


	21. Stealthy Ferret

Chapter 21 Stealthy Ferret  
  
Corin rolled his neck and stretched his back, sighing at the pops these motions produced. After his Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff third-years, he'd spent the rest of the day at his desk going over his lesson plans for the coming weeks and months. Then he'd gotten together with Laurea, Oron and three other elves who were helping him teach the wandless defense class. The first class was the following night with all the fourth through seventh-years. They would test all of the students taking the class to see whether they were beginners or advanced. The beginners would continue to meet on Tuesday nights from seven to nine PM and the advanced students would move to Wednesday nights.  
  
He glanced around his rooms, looking for something to do. There were plenty of books to read, but he felt he'd jump out of his skin if he had to sit anymore. Then he got an idea. He hadn't become any of his animagus forms since coming to Hogwarts. What if he became Quist and snuck around the castle for awhile? It was nine o'clock, so most of the students would be in their common rooms. Or they should be if they didn't want to loose house points. Yes, an excursion in his ferret form would be just the thing.  
  
"Hedwig, keep an eye on the twerp." His owl gave a hoot and he was out the door. Glancing quickly around and seeing no one, he became Quist in a split second and was waddling down the hall.  
  
Hogwarts looked quite different in his ferret form. For one thing, there were fascinating smells off down that corrid- _Hold on, keep a hold of yourself Corin. I can't let the ferret part of me take control._ He continued on, exploring and poking his nose in just about every crack and crevice he could find.  
  
He was contemplating climbing a suit of armor (_must think to bring Artue on one of these excursions_) when he heard humming up ahead. _Laurea!_ Suddenly his ferret face broke out in an evil grin and he gave a soft chuckle. (Quite funny how a chuckle sounds when coming from a ferret.) Stealthily, he crept behind the suit of armor's boots and crouched waiting. The second he saw one of her feet come into view, he leapt.  
  
"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!" The sound of her scream was beautiful! It was at such a high pitch that the very stones underneath them seemed to vibrate. He was ecstatic! _Ha! That'll teach her to deliberately sic Ailin on me!  
_  
"CORIN!"  
  
He jumped around in front of her making little huffing sounds that ferrets make when they're excited.  
  
"I'm going to kill you Corintur Raumoraa!"  
  
He jumped on her feet once more for the fun of it, then took off down the hall running. _She's sooo going to kill me in the morning..._  
  
Finally he slowed down as he got to the stairs and cocked his head listening for pursuit. _Nothing, wicked! This means I can explore more!_ He began making his way down the stairs. After going down three flights, he stopped for a rest. _I feel like a furry slinky.  
_  
As he continued down the stairs, he looked for interesting hallways to explore. One such hallway was down where he had found the Mirror of Erised.  
  
_ Hmm, maybe Albus is hiding other rare of interesting magical artifacts there this year._ His curiosity piqued, he left the stairs and started down the familiar corridor. _This part of the castle does have a mysterious feel about it; maybe that's what attracted me in my first year.  
  
_ Finally reaching the door where the mirror had been kept, he was about to push the door open when he heard a rather feline growling sound.  
  
_ Oh crap._ He turned around slowly and stared into the eyes of Mrs. Norris. The scruffy, red-eyed cat eyed him hungrily and licked her lips in anticipation. He took off running. Ferret instinct was in control now and in choosing between fight or flight, Quist had chosen flight. Unfortunately, Quist didn't know Hogwarts half as well as Corin did and he was soon cornered.  
  
Mrs. Norris stalked slowly toward him and Quist hunched his back up, making himself look larger and hissed softly. Not deterred, she continued towards her prey, drool dripping from her mouth. Suddenly, Corin was in charge of his animagus form again and gave the cat a mischievous smirk.  
  
Confused by this sudden change of attitude in the furry-rodent-prey, the feline cocked her head. _Why is the rodent-thing growing? _This was her only thought before every single strand of fur on her back stood on end and she bolted in fright. Chasing after her came a gigantic dark-silver and black leopard.  
  
He chased her for awhile- okay, about an hour. And when he'd gotten tired (meaning, when Mrs. Norris had wedged herself under one of the trophy cases), he headed back to his rooms to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, he headed out at five o'clock for his morning run. After about an hour of that, he met the rest of the elves on the quidditch pitch for fighting practice. He'd had to cut it short this morning though, because there was a staff meeting at 6:30.  
  
Walking in, he yawned and made himself a big cup of coffee before sitting down in one of the chairs. _Black leather, very comfortable._ The other teachers wandered sleepily in, one at a time, and soon they were ready to start. Albus, as he'd learned from Professor McGonagall, always held a staff meeting the day after school started. They would go over any changes in schedule, problem students, and other announcements they needed to be aware of.  
  
Finally it was time to start. "Welcome everyone. Before we begin, I have been asked to notify you of an incident that happened last night. Apparently Mrs. Norris was terrorized last night to the point where she won't come out from under the display cases in the trophy room-"  
  
Corin, who had just taken a big gulp of coffee, promptly spit it out again all over the 4th Year syllabus he'd been scanning. All eyes turned to him as he tried to discretely wipe the coffee away, while still trying to look the dignified elf at the same time. It wasn't working.  
  
"Corintur, is there something you'd like to... tell us?" Albus asked, barely holding back a grin.  
  
Corin gave a small, innocent smile. "No sir, nothing."

* * *

Yay! Here it is!! Well, I never was able to get a hold of my friend. I wanted to ask her about ferret behavior and what they do when they're really ticked off or scared. Well, I made an estimated guess and I hope it's right. If it's wrong, I'll probably go back and change it. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Arye


	22. Enraged Dragon

Chapter 22 Enraged Dragon

Corin walked casually into the Great Hall. Breakfast had started and the four house tables were full of students in states ranging from almost comatose to perky and awake. Continuing down the center aisle, his gaze moved to the table set aside for the elves and he studied it cautiously. With relief, he sighed and thought, _Thank Merlin she's not ther-_

"Corintur Raumoraa!! _How dare you jump out of the dark and scare me like that! If you even think-"_ She continued yelling at him in elvish as she advanced towards him threateningly. He backed away from her, hands held out for protection. The whole hall was silent as they watched their young elven professor getting chewed out.

_"-and then I'll hang you by your ears from the whomping willow, and you'd better just hope-"_ Corin was running out of room to back away from his enraged soul-mate, and she didn't show any sign of calming down. Meanwhile, Oron was laughing hysterically at the terrified look on his friend's face. _Cor deserves it though, _he thought, _I was the one that had to endure her ranting when she came in from patrol last night. Now it's his turn._

Corin had been backed into a wall by now and Laurea had him by the collar of his tunic, still yelling threats. As she took a break to breathe, he cut in.

_"Rea, I'm sorry!" _he pleaded. _"I couldn't help it; you know how my ferret impulses are as Quist... I don't think before I do things. It seemed like a good idea at the time..." _He winced as these words left his lips.

"_IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA??" _

Contemplating ripping his tongue out and feeding it to Mrs. Norris, he scrambled for some way to redeem himself. Several students and some of the staff were grinning now. None of them understood a word that was being spoken, but it wasn't hard to figure out that Corin had just said something really stupid. He had the look of someone who was faced with an enraged dragon and had nothing but a stick to defend himself with. Right as Corin was about to open his mouth and try to plead for his life, Laurea covered his lips with hers and gave him a long, mind-numbing kiss.

When she finally pulled away, his brain felt like mush. She gave him a small, amused smile and whispered, _"You're so cute when you're terrified_. With that said, she walked away with a bounce in her step.

Still trying to process the fact that he'd just been kissed, when only seconds before he'd felt like he was about to be shredded and torn to pieces, all he could say was "Mani-?" (What-?) Not the most intelligent of responses, but that was all that came to mind to say. Meanwhile, the entire hall was filled with loud laughter at Corin's expense. When he finally noticed everyone laughing at him, he flushed with embarrassment and left the hall as quickly as possible.

_Maybe I'll just eat in the kitchens this morning..._ He thought as he fled through the entrance hall and down a staircase towards the kitchens. It was still behind the same painting of a bowl of fruit; he tickled the pear and gave an amused smile when it giggled as the painting opened. Stepping through, he glanced around the familiar high-ceilinged room and saw that nothing had changed from his memory of it. He had fond memories of midnight wanderings under his invisibility cloak to get snacks from the house elves and chatting with Dobby.

He would have continued reminiscing about 'the good old days', but was interrupted from his musings at the sound of total silence in the room. Looking around in surprise, he was greeted with the sight of every house-elf in the room frozen in shock. Corin glanced behind him to see if they might possibly be staring at someone else, but saw no one. Turning back around, he cleared his throat awkwardly and resisted the urge to skip breakfast entirely and run (yet again) from the room.

"Ahhh, hello." Yep, definitely not one of his more eloquent days. But that got them moving and as one mass the bat-eared, tea towel-wearing house-elves gathered around him and stared up in awe and respect for the high-elf in their midst. He was starting to get seriously creeped out when one of the oldest house elves, probably the one in charge, spoke up.

"Can we be getting yous anything Mister elf, sir?" Every single elf in the entire room looked at him hopefully and seemed to hold their breath.

Corin smiled in relief and gave a small nod. "Yes, I'd like some breakfast if that's okay." He was almost blinded by the smiles he got in response and chuckled to himself as about five of the small creatures escorted him to a small table in the corner of the room while the rest scurried back to their jobs. Not five seconds passed before the table in front of him was filled to capacity with bacon, sausage, biscuits, fruit, toast, hot cereal, and several other breakfast foods which could have probably fed about ten people. He could feel the adoring stares from all over the room resting on him, but he paid them no mind as he ate and considered their response to him.

_Never when I was a student here did they react like this. Even with the headmaster, they adore him and show the utmost respect for the man. But their reactions when I entered the room today bordered on hero-worship. It has to be my race, that's the only possible answer_. As this occurred to him, he remembered some of the history he'd learned from his transformation. Elves and house-elves were not related to each other by anything but name, probably because of the pointed ears. But at one point in history long ago, house-elves had been hunted by a wizarding cult, which were very much like the deatheaters, along with goblins, centaurs, werewolves, and many other creatures. This had been before even the time of the founders, and the wizarding world was separated into clans instead of whole governments. Seeing the injustice occurring and how the wizarding world was neither equipped nor inclined to put a stop to it, the elves did.

As understanding swept through him over their reactions, a blur of color caught his eye and he turned to his left and spotted a very familiar, eccentrically dressed house-elf.

"Dobby?" He spoke softly, the name coming to his lips before he could stop it. The rest of the elves around him continued to work, but he saw Dobby pause and look at him curiously before walking slowly over and looking questioningly into his face.

"Sir knows Dobby's name?"

Corin hesitated, wondering how wise it would be to let Dobby know his real identity, then inwardly shrugged. Dobby was his friend, and unless he slipped or was interrogated under veritaserum, he knew the little elf would keep his secret.

"Yes," he gave the elf a small smile, "I look quite a bit different than when you saw me last." At the look of total confusion, he could almost hear what was going on in the elf's mind. '_Dobby has met this elf before? I is almost sure I has never met a high elf... Perhaps at Dobby's old master's house, is where I is meeting him. But High-elves would never be coming to the house of such bad Dark wizards...'_

Seeing that Dobby would never guess without a little help, he gave a couple hints. "You once gave me Gillyweed to help me succeed in a task I had to do." He could see the light dawning on Dobby's face, and gave one final hint by tapping Dobby's right sock softly with the toe of his boot.

"MISTER HA-" Dobby started to shriek, but Corin quickly covered the elf's mouth with his hand.

"Shhhh Dobby, no one but Professor Dumbledore knows I'm here." Dobby nodded frantically and Corin removed his hand as it was quickly becoming wet from a waterfall of tears that had begun flowing from the tennis-ball sized eyes.

"You is a high-elf now, sir!! Mister-"

"Corintur Raumoraa." Corin inserted.

"Mister Corintur sir is an elf!! Dobby has always known that sir was brave and selfless and noble but for sir to be a high-elf is the highest honor, the most wonderful, the most respected," The little house-elf would have continued naming off attributes in reference to elves, but stopped when Corin laid a hand on his slim shoulder.

"Thank you Dobby, it's so good to see you." He could see more tears welling in his little friend's eyes and smiled, then checked his pocket watch. "Ah Dobby, I've got to go. I've got a class starting soon, but I'll be sure to come and visit you again. Remember to call me Corintur, or just Corin, okay?"

Dobby nodded happily, "Yes Mister Corintur sir, Dobby will remember. I is missing you, sir, when you was away and those bad wizards is locking you up. Dobby is telling himself to go and tell those wizards how great and good and noble and selfless sir is, but Dobby knows that wizards wouldn't listen to him. Dobby is glad you is back Mister Corintur,sir." With an ecstatic smile, Dobby escorted Corin to the door and Corin left the kitchens with a wave and a smile at the little house-elf's antics.

* * *

(sigh) Wow, that took awhile to write didn't it? I apologise profusely for making you wait so long. If it's any consolation my sister has been nagging me for the past four weeks or so to sit down and get it done. (Heehee, love you Julie, hope you're happy now) Well, I'll be sure to update sooner on the next chapter. Leave me a review and let me know what you think!

Arye


	23. Wandless Fighting Class

Chapter 23 Wandless Fighting Class

Ron walked slowly down the hallway towards the great hall that night, staring straight ahead, but not really seeing where he was going. Surrounding him were Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and the rest of the Gryffindors who had all signed up for the wandless fighting class. The guys were arguing about what they would learn first and who would kick whose arse, laughing and fake-punching and play fighting as they walked. The girls were all clumped together in one giggly whispering gossipy mass. If he had been listening, he'd have heard the sighs and giggles and exclamations of how gorgeous this or that elf was.

But he was oblivious to everything except the constant stream of torturous thoughts running through his head. _He should be here. _His lower lip trembled slightly, but he tightened his jaw and gave his head an almost imperceptible shake. _No. I can't break now. Not here. _He vaguely sensed the lighthearted atmosphere around him as his fellow Gryffindors joked around on their way to the great hall. Another wave of sadness washed over him. _I wish it had been different. That I hadn't been so **stupid**! _He thought furiously to himself. _If I had only believed him... but no. I trusted bloody Dumbledore over my best friend. _He knew it wasn't the Headmaster's fault, but it still hurt that he'd placed more faith in Dumbledore's infallibility than in almost five years of friendship. _I betrayed him and screamed curses at him and smiled as those monsters dragged him away to Azkaban. _His fists clenched and his lips tightened in disgust and anger at himself when a soft hand was placed on his arm.

He looked to his right, knowing who it was. Hermione looked at him sadly and moved her hand down to clasp his own. They walked like that, hand in hand, Hermione's head had drifted down to rest on his shoulder and his thoughts drifted to the precious girl beside him. She was his girlfriend now; he tightened his grip on her hand as if afraid she would slip away from him. _Besides my family, she's the only good thing in my life anymore. _His thoughts drifted again to Harry. _If I could only see him one more time... he'll probably never forgive me... but I wish I could just say how sorry I am._

* * *

Corin stood silently in the great hall, waiting for the students to arrive. All of the elves including Oron and Laurea were there, some standing around chatting in elvish, some sparring in the dueling circles that had been set up. All of the tables had been cleared and were stacked against the walls making the great hall seem even more massive than usual. On the raised platform where the teachers' table usually sat were rows upon rows of weapons, all charmed to leave nothing but a bruise wherever they hit.

Watching the door, he stood stiffly with his face blank, his posture so straight one would feel the need to straighten their shoulders just by looking at him. He could almost feel the worried glances from Oron and Laurea but paid them no mind. He was remembering the conversation he'd had with the Headmaster just before he had come down to prepare the great hall.

flashback

"Corintur, might I have a word?" Corin turned from his view out the window of his rooms to greet the Headmaster. Dumbledore strolled further into the room on silent feet. If he didn't know better, Corin would think the Dumbledore too was of elven ancestry.

"Of course Headmaster, please sit down." He gestured gracefully to the couches located in front of his fireplace and waited for Dumbledore to be seated before he also sat down. "What can I do for you, sir?"

Dumbledore studied him silently for a few moments and Corin had to fight to keep from fidgeting under the intense gaze. Finally he spoke, "Corin, as I'm sure you know from the sign-up sheets, the wandless fighting class is one of the most anticipated and well attended classes we have this school year. Teaching students to fight and survive Voldemort and his deatheaters has become this school's primary focus besides teaching basic magical skills. And your class will be vital in achieving this goal." He paused for a moment, then went on. "I've had several teachers come up to me asking if it would also be possible for them to attend the classes as well alongside their students." Corin felt a wave of cold wash over his body; he had a suspicion just who had requested this. "Both Remus and Sirius have asked my permission to attend."

Corin, eyes wide, began to shake his head in panic. "No Albus, please."

"Corin..." Dumbledore looked at him in sympathy.

"Sir, I can't." he said desperately, "See them in staff meetings yes, greet them as I pass in the halls yes, but to teach them? To constantly be around them all year long? I'll already have Ron and Hermione in my classes. Please, sir."

"Corin, they want to be able to protect their students, any way they can have an advantage over the deatheaters. They want to make the most of this opportunity. As Sirius put it 'What's the point of protecting the students if they know more about fighting than we do?' Please, Corintur, do this for me and for your students."

Unable to look into Albus' pleading eyes any more, he put his head in his hands, fingers gripping his skull, eyes clenched shut. Dumbledore watched the young elf silently, knowing that what he was asking was an unfair request after all Corin had been through. Yet, he couldn't take it back, for the safety of his students.

Finally Corin lifted his head, a pained look in his eyes. "Very well, they may attend." He said quietly.

Albus nodded quietly and put a reassuring hand on Corin's shoulder as the elf let out a shaky breath. "All will be fine, Corintur, you'll see."

end flashback

Corin sighed at the thought of the conversation and resisted the urge to mumble some rather inappropriate elvish swear words. He looked up as the first students began arriving. Tonight was only years five through seven; the lower years would have their class in two days on Thursday. The hall, which had been almost silent before was now filled with the excited voices of students. Most were arriving in house groups and he gave a small smile at several students, mostly muggleborns, who were play fighting what he assumed were favorite scenes out of different movies. He chuckled quietly at one student who he could tell was imitating Aragorn's 'orc killing pose' (according to Laurea) from the Lord of the Rings movies.

The smile left quickly though as Remus and Sirius stepped into the room. He could tell they were making their way towards him and he sighed, trying to prepare himself for a conversation with his godfather and friend.

"Hey Corintur, you've got a good turnout." Sirius exclaimed as he walked to Corin's side, scanning the room.

"Yes, I'm glad so many students decided to come. I'm glad so many of my kin decided to help or I would be overwhelmed." He said quietly, he looked towards the door again just in time to see the Gryffindors enter the room. A brief flash of pain came across his face, but he schooled his features so fast that Remus (who had been the only one to catch it) wondered if he'd imagined it.

Corin glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was just after seven. He was about to get everyone's attention to give them their instructions when he heard some rather rude talking coming from somewhere behind the Gryffindors. He caught some comments about big clumsy feet and heard some rather rude suggestions about where they could put said feet before he caught on to whom was talking, or should he say what.

"Not...now," He groaned and headed reluctantly towards the source of the interruptions. "Artue!!" Every elf and staff member within hearing distance stilled and started to grin as they saw Corin headed towards the group of Gryffindors, whom by now were torn between being afraid of the advancing elf and cooing at the midget winged leopard.

Corin strode through the crowd of students and stopped in front of his wayward pet trying to look stern when all he wanted to do was laugh hysterically.

"Artue...you are here, why?" The knealin stood fearlessly before his bonded and gave several chirps and purr combinations. Upon hearing his answer, Corin brought his hand up and pinched the skin between his eyes, trying to sooth an oncoming headache. "Artue now is really not a good time to come down to play tag. And how did you get out of the room anyway?? Harmony said she was going to watch you..."

At that question Artue sat down, put on his most innocent eyes and did an impression of a centaur (staring at the star-filled ceiling fixatedly). Corin had the impression that if the knealin could have whistled to himself, he would have.

"All right you furball, what did you do?" Artue swung his head back around to look at Corin, a 'who me?' expression on his face. "Artue... tell me or no more grapes for a week." (Artue had a fetish for grapes after seeing Miri eating them one time.)

The knealin got a wide-eyed look of panic before his face fell in defeat and mumbled something quietly while looking away.

"YOU DRUGGED HER???" The entire room roared with laughter and Corintur said a few choice words in elvish, for which Laurea smacked him.

* * *

Ron stood in the center of the room waiting for the test to start. Each student and some of the teachers were spread throughout the great hall with several feet of space surrounding them. All had their eyes on the stage where all of the elves were gathered. He heard several giggles and had to fight the urge to laugh himself as he saw the defense professor's knealin, who was sitting in the corner of the hall sticking its tongue out at the back of Corintur's head. When the elf whipped around to check on the little troublemaker, he was found to be staring intently at the wall as if fascinated by the workmanship. He saw the professor shake his head and roll his eyes, mumbling to himself. Then as the elf turned to face the crowd, the redhead listened intently to the directions.

"Each of you is now receiving a white band which will be going around your wrist." Elves were moving through the room handing out what looked like white leather wristbands. As Ron received his, he saw it was about ¾ of an inch thick and as he placed it on his right wrist, it shrunk to a comfortable fit. "These are what will test you and what will mark you as to which class you will be taking. As soon as the test is finished it will turn either silver or gold: silver for beginners, gold for advanced." Everyone now had a bracelet and the elves had joined Professor Raumoraa back on the stage. "In a moment, I will activate the bracelets and you will enter a sort of virtual reality for all you muggleborns. For anyone who doesn't understand that, it just means that the test will occur in your head and everything you see is not real. You will be tested on your reflexes, physical fitness, and any abilities you have that are applicable to this class. After your test is finished, please sit down where you're standing and wait for the rest of your classmates to finish."

Ron nodded to himself while absently wondering what 'virtual reality' was, he supposed Hermione would know and made a mental note to ask her when they got back to the common room.

"Is everyone ready?" There was an affirmative sound and he nodded then said in elvish. _"Begin."_

Instantly Ron found himself in a black space with a light directly above his head. He looked out into the blackness and jumped slightly when he saw words form directly in front of him. DODGE. He would have contemplated this further, but he saw a yellow ball come hurtling towards him. Throwing himself out of the way, he had barely three breaths before more balls were sent flying at him and he continued trying to dodge. Most of the time he was successful, probably from dodging bludgers in quidditch, but occasionally he got hit. Luckily the balls were made of hollow rubber covered in neon yellow fuzz (tennis balls), so they just stung a bit but didn't bruise. Finally, when he was almost ready to collapse the balls stopped coming and he rested his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

A light flashed over him, and he blinked as he found himself suddenly refreshed, no longer out of breath and ready to continue. He went through several more tests, one involved running after a light ahead of him till he felt like he could fall down and sleep for a month. Another was like an obstacle course going over and under and through things. Another had him jumping over ropelike things that came flying at him at anywhere from ankle to knee level. The last few tests had him fighting against a shadow attacker with various types of weapons. Some he had no clue what to do with them, others like the sword he had a vague idea how to use and he did okay at. After each individual test, the light flashed and he felt refreshed and ready to continue. Finally after his last test, a fight with the shadow warrior in hand to hand combat, there was one final bright light and he found himself back in the great hall again.

Remembering his instructions, he sat down immediately and glanced around. About half of the students were seated, the rest were still standing, their eyelids twitching as they continued their testing. Glancing down at his wrist, he was surprised to see his wrist band's appearance. It still felt as soft as leather, but glinted gold in the torchlight. And inscribed on the top, as if carved into metal, were three elvish words. _Yes! I'm in the advanced class! _He grinned, glanced to his left, and saw Hermione had finished as well. He showed her the gold on his wrist. She smiled and held her wrist up silently, showing him a silver wrist band which again held three elvish words, but were different and longer than the ones written on his.

Finally, everyone was seated and Professor Raumoraa took center stage again. "Congratulations to everyone who made the advanced class. Again, that's everyone who now has a gold band on their wrist. For those of you who are in the Beginners class, we will now be meeting on Wednesday nights at this same time, seven to nine. You'll notice that each of your wristbands, in addition to changing color, now have three elvish words inscribed on them; those are your first, middle, and last names. Now, everyone please get up and move to stand somewhere you can see around the dueling circle." There was a circle marked out in the middle of the room and everyone made their way over quickly so as to get a good spot.

"We will be having five mock fights: one of each type of weapon, bar archery, and one hand to hand combat." The students looked at each other excitedly and soon the fights started. Oron and another elf did swords, a couple other pairs did daggers and staff. Corin joined Oron in the ring for hand to hand, which he promptly lost after about three minutes. And Laurea and Corin finished it off with glaive sparring, which he again lost. Ron grinned as he saw his teacher grumbling to himself. With that last fight, the class was finished. They then were instructed that as they walked out the door to place their wrist band on either a gold or silver decorated book. This would record the statistics from their tests both in the books for their instructors to view and on a piece of paper for them to take with them back to their dorms. Ron glanced at his when he got it and saw that it had his name, house, age, weight, reflexes on a scale from 1-10 (he got an eight), physical fitness again 1-10, which he got a seven, a notation that he was keeper for Gryffindor, and that the recommended weapon for him was the sword. As he and the others made their way back up to Gryffindor tower, they compared which weapons they would be training with (he discovered Hermione would be learning archery) and talked excitedly about their new favorite class.

* * *

Sigh yes, i know i promised i'd update sooner this month... I hate writers block... ah well. This is my longest chapter ever!! Soooo proud (tear). Anyways, heehee, I love Artue. If knealins existed, I'd so be getting one. He's such a fun little guy to write about! It was also interesting to be writing from Ron's point of view. His remorse and self hatred about how he treated Harry. yea, poor him. I'm still ticked off at the boy though, so they don't get to find out about Corintur for some time. Well, hope you like it and review!

Arye


	24. Flying

Chapter 24 Flying

About three weeks later, Corin was monitoring the Young Advanced group in their wandless fighting class. This was anyone in the first through fourth years who had been placed in the advanced class for their age group. He was happy to see that the four first years that had helped him on the train had all made it into the advanced class. Raven and Jackson were both training with glaives and Jemma and Brice had received daggers. All of the Wandless Fighting classes began with the first half of class devoted to just hand to hand combat which he taught to the whole group, while the second half they worked on learning how to handle each of their weapons. Each of the different weapon groups were dispersed throughout the Great Hall and each group had two elves instructing them. There were five weapons groups total: sword, glaive, daggers, staff and archery. Each group had anywhere from six to fifteen students in it, the largest groups being archery and sword.

Corin stopped by the glaive group and watched as Raven and Jackson, who had been partnered together, went through different offensive and defensive strikes and blocks. Jackson swung his blade down and across while Raven swung her weapon up and across to block. Then they would switch and do the opposite move. Their weapons rang loudly as they went through these moves over and over. He could see their arms slowing and their muscles start to tremble, but they kept at it determinedly. Just as he was about to step in and get them to rest, Anarion, one of the elves teaching glaive fighting, called for a break.

He gave a small amused smile as two of his favorite first-years sighed in relief and leaned their weapons against the wall to go get a drink of water from a nearby table. He felt slightly guilty as he watched them rub their sore arms and drink from glasses of water that trembled in tired hands. All of the weapons the students were using to train with, along with being spelled to inflict only bruises, were weighted. Ultimately this would be to their advantage, increase their arm strength and endurance as well as leave them able to use their chosen weapon with a fluid grace once they were given one of the proper weight. After all, this was the way he and every other elf in the room had learned to fight, but he had to hide a grin as he remembered his annoyance when he'd learned of the trick.

"Corintur!" Jackson waved from his and Raven's position. They were sitting about fifteen feet away against the wall, empty glasses of water on the floor next to them.

He walked over and sat down with an unconscious elegance that only an elf could accomplish, and turned to them. "You are doing very well. I was watching you for the past couple of minutes, and you've both learned surprisingly quickly." They smiled shyly, and ducked their heads, but he could tell they were proud of how quickly they were learning to master their weapon.

"Thank you, sir." Raven smiled at him and tucked some of her dark curly hair behind one ear.

He nodded, then remembered something he had been meaning to speak with them about. "Ah, I'd almost forgotten. You still want to meet my pets, correct?"

Both of their faces brightened and they nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay, grab some brooms from the broom shed and meet me down on the quidditch pitch tomorrow along with Brice and Jemma at ten o'clock and we'll play with them for a bit."

Just then, Anarion called for his group to continue with their practicing and the three of them stood.

"Thank you Corin, we'll see you tomorrow." Raven called as she and Jackson headed back to their practicing.

* * *

The next day at ten precisely, Corin walked out onto the quidditch pitch with Hedwig circling above him, Miri flitting around and around his head (as if imitating Ron's owl Pig) and Artue pacing from one of his shoulders to the other and back again.

"Artue, stop pacing or I swear I'll make you walk for the rest of the day… not that it wouldn't do you some good." He muttered. Glancing around him, he was hit with a wave of memories. Quidditch practice in the rain with Wood, catching Neville's Remembrall, the cheers of the crowd during the quidditch games. He was jerked out of his reminiscing by a yell to his left.

"Hey Professor C!" Jemma shouted as she, Jackson, Brice and Raven hurried towards him.

He smiled as they gathered around him, gazing in slight awe at his pets, two of which were extremely rare. "Meet Harmony," he held up his hand and Hedwig flew down to land gracefully on it. "Miri," He handed Hedwig to Jackson, then took Jemma's hand and held it up for Miri to perch on, which she did only after darting curiously around each of their heads. "And lastly, Artue." After saying this he raised his right arm which Artue crawled down, gripping the fabric of Corin's shirt with his baby claws.

"Now, what do you know about either knealins or snidgets?" He asked, figuring he could turn this into a learning opportunity. _Merlin, I really am getting into this teacher thing…_

"Well, I read in Quidditch through the ages that snidgets were what they used before the snitch was made." Brice stated

"Good, two points to Gryffindor. Anything else?"

"They're very rare, and were almost hunted to extinction before they became a protected species." Raven said quietly. "Now it's illegal to capture or harm a snidget, and there are severe penalties for those who do." She looked at him worriedly. "You won't get in trouble will you?"

He smiled softly, "No, Miri stays of her own free will. She's not so much a pet, more of a companion who can stay or go as she pleases. And that's five points to Gryffindor, very good." They all looked very relieved, and he would have gestured to Artue except the little troublemaker decided at that moment to leap from Corin's arm and collided with Brice's chest. Brice quickly moved to catch the knealin before he could slip and fall to the ground, but Artue was already clawing his way up the boy's shirt and onto his shoulder where he started chewing on the first-year's hair.

"Artue-" The knealin paused in his chewing to shoot an innocent look at Corin, then proceeded in ignoring him again. Corin rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Never mind, do you know anything about knealins?" The students glanced at each other, but shook their heads negatively in the end. "Knealins, as you can tell by the wings on Artue's back, can fly- when they're _full grown_." He said pointedly for Artue's benefit. "They are extremely fast and have telekinetic powers as adults. Artue is about eleven inches (28 cm) tall right now from the ground to the top of his back, and the biggest he'll grow is probably around nineteen inches (48.3 cm) tall with a wingspan of about five feet (151ish cm)."

Artue chirped and puffed out his chest while flapping his wings importantly, which incidentally whapped Brice in the head a couple of times before he stopped.

"Okay, enough talk. You all know how to fly?" They nodded eagerly and gripped their brooms enthusiastically. "Alright then. Miri, you feel up to a little game of tag?" He sent her a picture of them chasing her, but only touching her with a finger to win instead of grabbing her like one would a snitch. She gave a couple of excited cheeps and took off. The kids scrambled to get on their brooms, but Corin held them back.

"Hold on, we need to establish a couple of ground rules. First, no grabbing Miri under any circumstances; just the touch of a finger is enough. Two, if I say stop you stop, because that means that Miri has told me she wants to quit for whatever reason. Three, Artue, get over here. If you're going to fly with us, it's going to be with me. So you don't 'accidentally' slip and go plummeting to the ground in yet another attempt to fly." Artue gave an indignant squeak and looked mutinous for a moment before Corin said, "If you don't fly with me, you don't fly at all." At that Artue gave a pathetic whine, then looked at the ground glumly.

Corin chuckled as he lifted the small winged leopard from Brice's shoulder and settled him in his arms as he mounted his Firebolt. Flying on his Firebolt was a risk, but he figured it was unlikely anyone would recognize his broom. The Firebolt brand had been on the market for a couple of years now, so it was likely that several of the students at Hogwarts owned some as well. Not to mention all of the elves, including Laurea who couldn't resist the lure of flying and had bought a broom themselves.

The kids were already in the air and Miri was flying around ecstatically, enjoying the game. He could tell that the four of them, though they had a little flying experience, were not experts at the art. It looked like Miri sensed this too and he could tell she was flying a little slower than normal, keeping just ahead of their seeking fingers.

"Alright buddy, lets go." He pushed off the ground and shot up into the air like a bullet while Artue squealed with delight in his ears. The knealin was cradled in a secure grip against his chest and Artue had his claws firmly imbedded in the fabric of his tunic sleeve. He kept rocketing upwards until he reached what he called 'snitch-watching height'. The height where during a game, he could see just about anywhere on the pitch and be out of the way of the chasers.

"Wow, boy, I haven't flown in so long…" Artue purred as he looked out in the distance, over the lake and Forbidden Forest. "Hey," Artue looked up at him inquisitively. "Wanna try some stunts? See if we can shock them?" The knealin chirped excitedly. "You sure you're up for it? Some of these are a bit scary…" Artue gave a growl.

"'Bring it on' huh? Very well." Corin shot his familiar a mischievous look and Artue only had time to gulp before they dove. The wind streamed past them so fast that their eyes started watering and Corin felt Artue's claws tighten as the ground loomed nearer and nearer. Finally, just as it looked like they were about to hit, Corin pulled out of it with a whoop and a couple of corkscrews, before soaring back to his previous height. The kids had by then stopped what they were doing and stared in shock at their favorite professor who had just pulled off one of the best (alright, the only) Wronski Feint they had ever seen.

Corin glanced down and tried not to laugh as he saw Artue, who looked frozen in terror to his arm. Just as he was about to get worried, Artue looked up with wide eyes and gave several ecstatic yips and growls.

After hearing the knealin's response, Corin burst out laughing and answered. "Yes, I quite agree. Flying is the most awesome thing in the world. Don't worry buddy, a couple more months and you'll be flying right up here with me."

* * *

Remus was sitting by the window of his room when he happened to glance out and see a couple of students flying around the quidditch pitch. He was just about to turn away from the quite normal sight when another broom shot up into the air so fast it seemed a blur. He gasped as the flyer, after circling a couple of times over the pitch, dove so suddenly and so steeply he feared they would fall. Knowing there was no way he could get out there in time to be of any help, all he could do was watch, praying that whoever it was would pull up in time. Just as Remus was certain that the flyer would plow into the ground, they pulled up and soared back into the air.

"Merlin, that just about gave me a heart attack! What sort of insane…" He trailed off, then summoned Sirius's Omnioculars, muttering about suicidal students and taking house points. Focusing on the flier, who had by now reached their previous altitude, he zoomed in and almost dropped the Omnioculars when he recognized the rather aloof elf who shared the DADA position with Sirius and himself.

"No way…" Looking closer he watched as Corintur zoomed down again and took off after a gold blur that Remus could only guess was the elf's snidget. Slowing down the time and zooming even closer, he watched a look of joy spread across the elf's face as he chased his friend. The snidget (Mary?), no Miri, turned around in mid-air so she was still flying backwards but flew facing Corin. The werewolf watched entranced as a soft smile came over Corin's face and the elf then leaned closer to brush his lips faintly against the golden head, all this time flying at top speeds through the air.

Feeling as though he were somehow intruding, Remus began to pull his eyes from the Omnioculars. But before he lost sight of the pair, he caught a glimpse of the Firebolt logo on Corintur's broom. A sad look came to Remus' eyes, and he turned from the window. Reminders of Harry were constants in his and Sirius' lives, but this was one of the strongest he'd gotten yet. He sighed, but couldn't help looking back out the window at the distant fliers. And as he watched a far figure loop and zigzag through the air, an odd expression crossed his face, and he wondered…

* * *

Happy Early Christmas!!!!!!!!!! Yes, i know it's been forever... or as my sister put it: 'and ever and ever amen...' Anyways, i finally got down to it an just started writing. worked pretty good huh? finally finished about three this morning. But then i had to wait until later today to have her spell/grammar check it. she's basically my live-in beta reader. her job is pretty much based on catching those kinds of mistakes, so she's good. if you see any spelling problems, it's probably my fault for being impatient and uploading the chapter before she could check it.

Soooo, hope you enjoyed reading. feel free to leave awesome (or even not so awesome) reviews. just as long it's more than 'your story sucks.' but i love it when readers catch errors in my story so i can fix them... heehee but i like positive reviews even better...

I'll try to update quicker for chapter 25, but I make no guarantees... lol, but don't worry, the chances of me updating soooo incredibly slow like this time isn't very likely. k, i'm done, bye.

Arye


	25. Speculations

Chapter 25 Speculations

Remus' head was reeling. Ever since that day a week ago when he'd observed Corintur flying on the quidditch pitch, he couldn't stop wondering if maybe, just maybe… but no, that was impossible. Yet, even as he told himself over and over that he was insane for even thinking that Corin was Harry, his senses and his heart kept telling him otherwise. Just little things that only he seemed to notice; habits that did not fit with one of a purely elven background, like, for example, drumming his fingers during a staff meeting. This was a human tendency that he had never heard of elves doing. Of course, he had no illusions that he was an expert on elves, but that was just one of the things he'd noticed.

Besides the obvious fact that Corin owned a Firebolt and flew it with a daring and skillful style that matched his former pupil, other similarities stood out to Remus. One example was his eyes, which were the exact shade of Harry's, if not even brighter. Of course this proved nothing; all elves he'd seen had very striking eyes. But then there was how friendly he was with Laurea, an elf who was well known for pleading with the wizarding world about Harry's innocence. He'd also noted that Corin owned an owl the same size and relative color of Harry's old owl Hedwig. The owl had the same mannerisms too, like a stern, motherly figure.

The final clue that seemed to validate it all was Corintur's attitude around him, Sirius, and the other staff and older students. He was so reserved, almost cold, around them in contrast to the open and somewhat carefree attitudes of the other elves in his party, and rarely spoke to anyone unless he was addressed directly. His eyes always seemed to hide something, and he remembered seeing a pained expression on the elf's face so briefly that he'd thought he had imagined it. Now that he thought back on it that had been the precise moment that the sixth year Gryffindors had walked into the room. At this revelation, he stopped pacing so quickly he almost fell.

It was late at night and Remus was in his rooms pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. His rooms were identical to that of Corin's with the entrance opening to a small common room; a bedroom was through a door to the left and a private office to the right. It was decorated in Maroon and bronze with a light colored wood on the floors and furniture.

As he pondered this new revelation, he stared sightlessly into the fire, which was little more than coals and a few blackened logs, while running a shaky hand through his grey streaked light-brown hair.

"Is it possible?" He whispered incredulously. _How can a man become an elf, and he **is** an elf no doubt about that. Glamour charms could account for the ears and face shape and a hair growth potion for his hair length, but nothing can fake the graceful movements of elves. And the old Harry would never be able to fight a well as Corintur does. Sure he lost to Laurea and her brother during those mock fights at the beginning of the year, but if this whole wild theory were true, that would make sense if he had only been training since March when he escaped._

Remus gave a heavy sigh and collapsed in a chair in front of the fire. Now that his suspicions were all but proven true, he didn't know what to do. Oh, he knew what he wanted to do which was to bolt straight out of the room to Corin's and beg forgiveness. But he knew that were he to do that, Corin would be long gone by morning. He would run again, and Remus couldn't blame him. His only option was to wait, wait and hope that sometime in the future Harry would give them all another chance.

* * *

The next morning, Corin was making his way out of the Forbidden Forest after his morning run as Stealth and towards the Quidditch pitch where the elves had fighting practice at six o'clock every morning. Although it was more than just elves now; several students as well as Sirius and Remus had inquired about more opportunities to train, and that had been the only time available that didn't conflict with class schedules or quidditch practice. Corin had reluctantly agreed, if only because he knew how few students would be willing to wake up at five thirty in the morning. Most students didn't wake up until at least seven, which is when breakfast started, if not later. So far, only fifteen people consistently showed up every morning which included Sirius, Remus, Jemma, Brice, Jackson, and Raven.

He glanced around the field and saw that almost all of the elves were there and already sparring with various weapons. Some fought each other; others were instructing the students, showing them new moves and correcting them when they made mistakes. Anarion and Oron were fighting furiously with swords. Oron looked to be winning so far as he suddenly went on the offensive, making his sword blur through the air and forcing the other elf to retreat. Several students that he knew were learning sword fighting stood a distance away, staring in awe at the two elves whose movements were so fast and fluid that it looked like a dance.

Knowing that it would be awhile before either elf won, since both were equally good with the sword, he summoned his sword and glaive from his room and moved to an empty area of the field to practice. Setting his sword to the side, he brought his glaive up in front of him and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath then let it out slowly, but as he breathed out he felt his skin start to tingle with magic. The only thing he could liken it to was the time he, Aranel, Laurea, and Oron had had that archery contest when he had gone from mediocre to a perfect shot. But this was so much more extreme compared to that. He recalled feeling a tingling in his fingers and arms, some around his eyes and cheekbones. But now… his body was literally throbbing with magic, in time with his heartbeat.

He took another trembling breath and started to move, no not move, dance. Never had he felt so in tune with a weapon before, it literally felt like another extension of his body. The glaive sliced through the air with the grace and skill of a master of the art of glaive fighting. His eyes were still closed and his mind was only focused on the rhythm of his movements, so he didn't see when all the elves and humans on the field slowly stopped what they were doing to watch.

It looked as though he was fighting an invisible opponent, his movements so quick they were hard to follow with the naked eye. His hair flew behind him as he twisted and turned, dodging and blocking strikes that only he could see. Laurea, who had been working with Raven and Jackson on their own glaive fighting, gazed in awe at her soul mate. Her breath hitched as he executed a move that only elves who had been training for years could even attempt to do. She and Oron shared a look of astonishment.

"_Looks like you won't be beating him anymore little sister." _He muttered quietly, never removing his gaze from Corin. She nodded and smiled brightly as she continued to watch. Finally Corin's movements started to slow and he came to a stop, his glaive resting in the same position it had started in.

Slowly he opened his eyes, and as he considered what had just happened, he felt his heart rate speed up and his breathing quicken. He brought his weapon down to rest in both hands and stared at it as his mind raced. _This is not just some side effect from being of elven ancestry, the perfect shot I can somewhat understand, but this?? I've never heard of anything like this happening before. I think I need to write to Soron and have him consult the council. Something big is happening, and I want to know what._

He looked up and was just about to head across the field to explain what had happened to Laurea when he froze. Every elf and human on the field was staring at him, some with slack-jawed expressions on their faces. Laurea and Oron were watching as well, proud and amazed looks on their faces. Suddenly wishing for a hole in the ground to open up and swallow him, he grabbed his sword and made his way over to them as quickly as possible. As if his movement set off a signal, everyone got back to practicing like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When he had reached them, they just kind of stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say.

"Sooooo…" Oron said when no one spoke.

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Laurea said with a grin. Then her face turned serious, "What happened, melamin?" (my love)

Corin's eyes got a far off look in them as he remembered. "It was amazing, I felt magic flowing through me. And every move I made felt as if I had done it hundreds of times before. I just… _knew_ what to do." He turned back to look at them. "Do you know what's happening to me? Have you ever heard of this happening to someone before?"

Oron shook his head. "No, I've never heard of anything like it. But Corin, what you did… some of those moves not even Laurea can do. By the stars, some of them are so advanced only a master who has trained for hundreds of years can do them."

Corin's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Finally he shook his head and muttered something like 'why is it always me?', and then spoke. "I'll write your father tonight and have him take this matter to the council. Maybe then we'll find some answers."

They nodded in agreement and then headed back to what they had previously been doing. He was about to do the same and start working with his sword when he felt eyes on him. Figuring it was just a couple awestruck students, he glanced up but froze when his eyes met Remus'.

_He knows. _Corin swore to himself silently as he observed the expression on Remus' face cycle from amazement to wistful to self-loathing and kept his eyes on Remus as the werewolf averted his gaze and looked away.

_Bloody hell, he knows… what do I do now?_

* * *

That afternoon just after lunch, Remus was standing on the shore of the lake watching the giant squid when Corin found him. He just stood there observing him for a moment, Remus still unaware he was there, debating his decision to come. Finally he took a deep breath and made his way over to stand next to his old professor. Remus had been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he gave a startled jump when he noticed Corintur standing quietly next to him staring out at the lake, a blank expression on his face.

"So you know." It was a statement, and Remus flinched at the cold tone in his voice.

"Yes." He just whispered in response.

"How?"

"I saw you on your Firebolt, saw your skill at flying, the color of your eyes, remembered little things that I had dismissed before. When I put it all together, there was only one conclusion I could draw." Remus spoke quietly, and kept his eyes on the water and mountains in front of him.

"I see." He took a deep breath, trying to settle his nerves. "Tell no one of this. Perhaps one day I'll be able to forgive…" His voice trailed off and he swallowed with difficulty.

Remus nodded and the view in front of him grew distorted as his eyes became glazed with tears. "Upon my magic, I will tell no one who you are." He felt a flare in his magic as he said these words, and knew that the wizard's oath he'd just spoken would hold him to his word.

"Thank you, Professor. You can talk with the Headmaster if you wish; he is the only human here that knows who I am." Remus gave another nod, acknowledging that he had heard. "I have a class soon, so I must go. I'll see you at dinner."

"I'm sorry, Harry." Remus said in a barely audible whisper.

The young elf paused as he was about to leave. "I know Remus, I know." He said softly, and then was gone.

* * *

Hey!!! I actually got a chapter out in under a month!!! yay! sooo, Remus finally knows. I love Remus! He's one of my absolute favorite characters, kinda reminds me of me. except for the whole lycanthrope thing. (i think i spelled that right. for those that don't know, that's werewolfism.) I've got a whole calendar full of approximate dates, and this chapter takes place in about mid-October. The Halloween costume ball will be coming up soon, so that'll be fun.

Well, hope you like this chapter, please feel free to leave a review.

Arye


	26. Haggis and Hotcakes

Chapter 26 Haggis and Hotcakes

The following Saturday, Corin was awoken at an ungodly hour by the feel of a rough tongue over his nose and eyelids. Giving a disgruntled groan, he felt around blindly until he found the furry and feathery intruder, chucked him off the bed, then rolled over and tried to get a bit more sleep. This had become a morning routine, one Corin wished he could break his knealin of. What possessed Artue to awake so early was beyond him, and he wished he could figure out the reason so it could burn and die. Just as he was about to drift off again, his sensitive ears caught the sound of little claws ripping at his blanket as the rascal climbed back onto the bed.

_"Kela lle 'kshonna…_" (Go away you evil creature…) Corin begged in a muffled voice, _"amin anta kaim!_" (I need to sleep!). He felt Artue climb onto his back as he lay on his stomach, his head buried face-first in his pillow. He felt the little paws walk to the base of his back, then turn around and start to shift back and forth…as if ready to pounce. Towards his head.

_"Uuma lle verya…" _(Don't you dare…) he began to say, right before his head was tackled by a ball of baby teeth and claws. _"Aai!_" He shot up in bed, sending Artue flying to land dazed at his feet. _"Artue, tanya awra!"_ (Artue, that hurt!) He rubbed his sore head creating an even bigger mess of his hair, and grumbled in elvish about 'bloody annoying pests', and several imaginative ways he could punish said pest.

As he scooted to the edge of the bed to stand up, he turned to glare at Artue who was sitting in the tangled blankets licking one paw, as if nothing had just happened.

_"Amin delotha lle."_ (I hate you.) A wide-eyed expression of innocence was his only response.

Rolling his eyes, he turned towards the door and froze as he saw Laurea there leaning casually against the doorframe with Calie in her arms, her lips twitching as she tried to hold in her laughter.

_"Eina amrun haime, mela." _(Amusing morning routine, love.) She said with a smirk. He stared blearily at her, then tried to scowl when her words finally registered.

"He doesn't seem to grasp the concept of sleeping in, and tries to find new and more torturous ways to wake me every morning." He grumbled, reverting to English. Standing up, he walked towards his closet, firmly ignoring the fact that he was dressed in nothing but his boxers. His cheeks colored slightly as he heard an admiring whistle from the doorway.

He turned back to her with a slight grin on his face. "Out you!" She pouted, but her eyes were twinkling as she turned away. "And take this mini-marauder with you!" He grabbed Artue and tossed him through the air, Artue squealing excitedly the whole way, and Laurea caught him with one hand as the other held her own knealin.

"Don't be too long, love."

He nodded and then made his way to the showers as she shut the door behind her. Turning on the spray, then undressing and putting his head under the water, he thought back on the previous week. He and Remus had been tiptoeing around each other, trying to keep up a professional relationship, yet trying to interact as little as possible. So far, no one had noticed the strained atmosphere besides Laurea and Oron, but he knew he would have to do something soon to ease the tension between them before people started getting suspicious.

Another thing he had done that week had been to send off a letter to Soron and the council about his emerging powers. Whatever had been happening to him recently was not normal. Elves don't just suddenly get up one morning with a fighting talent that normally takes centuries to perfect! Not to mention that episode on the train. He hadn't paid it much attention at the time, but the spell he'd used to sweep away the yellow mist had been well beyond his knowledge level of elvish magic. These two issues had been addressed and he'd asked them to look into the matter to see if perhaps somewhere in Kalayaana there was an answer.

After finishing washing up, he turned off the water and dried off. Peeking through the door to make sure his room was still empty, he entered and picked some clothes out for the day. As soon as he had finished getting dressed and had braided his hair back, he stepped out of the room and into the common room area.

Laurea was slouched in a chair watching as Artue and Calie took turns launching themselves from the back of the couch. Occasionally, when Calie landed Artue would tackle her and they would wrestle for a bit before going back to their 'flying practice'. He was dreading the time when their wings were strong enough to hold them aloft. Who knows what mischief they would get into then.

"Shall we go love?" He held out his hand to help her up. She took it with a smile, and they started walking towards the door, hands still clasped when Corin was almost tripped by Artue and Calie who were begging to come. After promising to buy them both some of the knealin's favorite sweets, Fizzing Whizbees (massive sherbet balls that make the eater levitate), they escaped out the portrait door.

"You're looking much more awake than when I saw you last." She said, her eyes twinkling.

He grumbled under his breath, but she could see him holding back laughter at the thought of his knealin's antics that morning. "That furball…" She giggled, then looked at him inquisitively when he turned to face her in the middle of the hall.

"Let's skip the great hall this morning and let me take you out to breakfast in Hogsmeade today. We haven't yet had an official date yet, let me take you out and spoil you this afternoon."

Laurea got a surprised look at this unexpected request, then gave him a happy smile. "That sounds fabulous Corin! And besides that, we'll have time to check out the town before the students get there later today."

"Well yeah, that too." He gave a grin as she practically skipped down the hall, dragging him with her.

After stopping off at the kitchen and asking the house elves to send up some food for Artue, Calie, Mirie, and Hedwig, they headed out the front doors of the castle. It was a quick run down the road to Hogsmeade with the two of them racing each other in their animagus forms (Harry as Stealth). Finally, on the edge of town they slowed and shifted back to their elven forms.

Laurea's eyes were shining and Corin grinned at her as he took her hand and began walking in the direction of a small restaurant that he knew served very good food called Helga's House of Hotcakes and Haggis. He'd been there once last year before he'd been taken. It was a very cozy place with a wide assortment of foods, as implied by the sign. From what he could tell, it was a family run business owned by a former Hufflepuff who came from a long line of Hufflepuffs. It was decorated in yellow and black of course, to go with Hufflepuff house colors, but not so much that the effect was garish.

Laurea looked around curiously as they entered, and Corin didn't blame her. The walls were filled with signed quidditch equipment, newspaper articles, and photographs of famous Hufflepuff alumni.

They were ushered to a table over by a window and given menus before the waitress left to get their drinks. Several patrons were eyeing them curiously as not many of the elves had ventured into Hogsmeade yet.

"_So, how have you been, love? We haven't had the chance to talk privately for a while." _Laurea asked in elvish, then paused before continuing. "_You've had something on your mind for the past week, are you ready to talk about it yet?"_

Corin stilled, as he hadn't been expecting this question. His thoughts raced, and he debated whether or not to tell her. Finally, he sighed and met her eyes. "_Remus knows who I am."_

She bit back a gasp. _"How?" _she asked faintly.

"_Small clues piling up. He swore to say nothing. I don't think we'll have to worry about anyone else finding me out, at least for awhile. Hermione is smart enough to figure it out, but since I don't have her in any of my classes, I shouldn't have to worry about it."_

Laurea took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. _"Okay. Good." _The waitress came back just then and they switched back to English so they could order their food. Laurea ordered a bowl of fruit and a couple of pastries, and Corin had pancakes and sausage. As Lucy, their server, left they continued their conversation.

"_How are you feeling about your old friends?"_

He gave a slight since, _"Always have to ask the hard questions don't you?" _He gave her a small smile to tell her it was okay, then continued. "_It still hurts to look at them. Whenever I see them, I remember…" _His voice broke off and he took a sip of tea while trying to get his thoughts back in order. _"I know they're sorry for what they did and said. Remus was crying as I left after talking to him. But knowing they're sorry doesn't make it okay. Most of the time I still have to restrain myself from punching them in the nose whenever I see them."_

"_So do I." _She said with a small grin. Just then, their food appeared from the kitchen. _"Alright, enough serious topics. Lets eat and I'll tell you some stories to blackmail my brother with from when we were younger."_

Corin laughed and agreed, so as they started eating she launched into a story about when Oron was first learning his animagus transformation. Her brother had been fourteen years old at the time, and had gotten about halfway through the change when he was interrupted. Ailin, who had been three at the time ran naked, wet, and screaming into the room. Their mother had followed moments later chasing after the elven toddler with a towel. All of this had happened with in a couple of seconds, but that had been enough to take his mind off of this transforming body. By the time he realized what had happened, he'd shrunk about two feet, had slate blue scales all over his body, two half grown wings on his back, silver ridges and claws on his spine and nails, and could breathe fire. All of this had of course happened the day his current crush, and Aranel's best friend had decided to come over to the house. He had been stuck like that for three days, and every time he had tried to talk, he'd set something on fire.

As Laurea finished the story, Corin was practically sobbing with laughter. They were also getting some pretty strange looks from the rest of the patrons, as the entire conversation had been in elvish. They continued talking, but every once in awhile, Corin would burst out laughing at the thought of Laurea's story about her brother came to mind.

They finally finished eating, and after paying their bill, left to roam the streets of Hogsmeade once more.

* * *

Wow. I apologise for how long it's been between updates. I can only claim writers block and a busy schedule. Yes, I know it's a bad excuse, but there you go. More fun with Artue this chapter, I love the little furball. The next chapter won't take nearly as long to update, I promise! Feel free to leave a review, I always read them. Just no flames please, but I welcome any suggestions you can give me on correcting spelling or grammar errors.

Arye


	27. Phoenix Song

Chapter 27 Phoenix Song

Corin and Laurea had been wandering around Hogsmeade for a couple of hours now. They had been to Honeydukes, where the two had bought all their normal favorite candies, some Fizzing Whizbees for the knealins, and a couple other sweets which they had never tried that looked interesting. They had also stopped off at Gladrags Wizardwear to look for costumes for the upcoming Halloween costume ball. The store had been completely packed with students as this and the next weekend were the only Hogsmeade visits left for students to get a costume. They had finally left deciding to write Aranel and Serie asking them to make them their costumes, as Gladrags had nothing near what they had in mind.

They had just entered The Three Boomsticks when they became aware of a commotion near the back to the room. Malfoy and several of his cronies were standing around the table where Ron, Hermione and several other Gryffindor sixth years were seated. Hermione and Seamus could be seen holding Ron in his seat, keeping him from starting a brawl. They could hear snippets of the conversation taking place.

"…probably insane. Who wouldn't be after four months surrounded by dementors? And what do you think he heard during all that time? You two, and everyone he ever loved…condemning him. He'll probably never forgive you, no matter how much you beg!" At this, all the Slytherins started laughing cruelly.

Corin's mouth had, by this time, compressed into a thin line. He could feel Laurea's worried looks, but paid them no mind as he made his way over to the table. It was his duty as a teacher to break this up, and besides, Malfoy's remarks had struck too close to home.

"Is there a problem over here?" his cold voice interrupted the laughter, and several students took a couple steps back at his tone.

Malfoy looked startled at his interference, then sneered. "No problem, _professor_." He spat the last word as if it was an insult.

Corin's eyebrows lifted slightly in surprise. So far there had been no complaints because of elves at Hogwarts, but he should have expected some of the purebloods to resent his presence eventually. "Your tone would suggest otherwise." He scanned the rest of the students, many of them had trouble meeting his eyes. "I believe all of you have gotten your drinks, so if you would gather your things and either find another table, as this one is full, or leave the bar. It is a pleasant day, and I would hate to have to send all of you back up to the castle over such a trivial matter."

There were a few grumbles, but most of the students followed his directions. The only exception being Malfoy, who looked revolted at the thought of following the directions of an elf. Crabbe and Goyle, seeing Malfoy not moving took their usual posts flanking him and looking tough and intimidating.

"Unable to follow directions Mr. Malfoy?"

"Not from the likes of you. You and your _kind_ are the worst thing to _ever_ happen to Hogwarts. Little better than _house elves_, and you presume to teach me? The Malfoy name dates back to the time of the founders. It's disgusting that Dumbledore forces us purebloods to learn under such filth!" As he finished his ranting, the pub had grown quiet. Most of the room was now glaring at the blond boy either because of his bad mouthing Dumbledore, or the elves of both. Corin himself was taking slow deep breaths, his narrowed eyes focused on Malfoy, trying to calm down enough in order to speak.

"You pride yourself on the legacy of your family name, yet I know elves who lived during the time of Merlin and who knew him well. It disgusts you that you must learn from someone less than pure of blood, yet Voldemort's Deatheaters bow before a halfblood. You may not like me or my kind Mr. Malfoy; but you will respect me and follow my directions, or you'll find yourself in detention for the next week. Now, back to the castle. Your Hogsmeade weekend is officially over."

"You can't do that! My father…"

"Is a known Deatheater and his no authority here. Back to the castle or your detentions will be two weeks instead of one."

"I'd like to see you give me a detention after today!" Malfoy muttered with a malevolent glare as he turned towards the door. But Corin's ears caught it and he swiftly reached out and stopped him before he could leave.

"What do you mean?" But Malfoy just stood there smirking, and a feeling of foreboding swept over him. "You know something, tell me!"

Finally Malfoy spoke, barely whispering, knowing Corin would hear him. "Haven't you noticed the lack of Slytherin students here? They've been warned. But my friends and I plan on finding somewhere comfortable to sit back and watch the show." He glanced down and checked his pocket watch. "Not long now, must get going." He forcefully shrugged off Corintur's tightening hand and straightened his robes. "Please forgive me if I doubt your ability to carry through with your threats of detention. I think the only thing left in your future is a long and agonizing death." And with that, Malfoy spun his cloak around himself and was gone before Corin could stop him.

Corin could just stare at the spot where Malfoy had been standing. Laurea put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned towards her with fear in his eyes. Her lips were trembling, but she looked at him bravely.

_"Whatever is coming, we'll beat it. Don't be afraid." _She reached out and hugged him tightly. The rest of the room had gone back to chatting and drinking, but the Gryffindors at the table next to them watched silently. They hadn't heard the whispered conversation between him and Malfoy or understood Laurea's elvish, but the expression on the two elves faces made them wary.

"Professor, what's wrong?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

Corin and Laurea turned toward her and studied the looks on the Gryffindor's faces which were full of fear, yet set bravely also.

"Something's coming, something bad." Corin stated softly. "I need you to quietly collect the students, especially the younger ones, and head back to the school. Don't fight whatever it is unless you have no other choice. Leave that for the adults. I want your main focus to be on protecting the students. I don't know how much time we have, but not long. Will you do this?" He could see their desire to help fight, but knew they would do as he asked.

"Yes sir." Ron stated resolutely as he stood.

The rest of the table followed and he watched as they split up, one going from table to table in the Three Broomsticks and the rest headed down the street for the rest of the shops that were populated with students.

He turned to Laurea, "You get word to the rest of the elves at Hogwarts, and send someone to tell the headmaster. I'll contact all the teachers in Hogsmeade and the aurors stationed around town. Let's go." They headed out the door along with several nervous students and before many astonished eyes, Laurea immediately transformed to her golden unicorn animagus and thundered down the street towards the school.

At this unusual display of her animagus form, all elves within sight converged on his position, knowing something was wrong. Corin started explaining the situation in rapid elvish and all elves present reached for their weapons and got them ready. Anarion started relaying orders and Corin turned to go find whichever teachers were in town when he saw Sirius and Remus headed towards him.

"Corin what's going on?" Sirius asked as he eyed an elf who was stringing his bow and testing the tautness.

"Voldemort's sending something into Hogsmeade, soon. Your guess is as good as mine as to what it is. It could be deatheaters, dementors, or five chimeras. He could even be bluffing, but my gut tells me he's not. So we need to be ready."

Both marauders' faces turned grave. "I'll alert the aurors." Sirius stated and headed towards the nearest one as Corin turned to Remus.

"How many teachers are in town?"

"Besides you, me and Sirius, only Severus and Minerva are here. We didn't expect an attack so soon."

"We should have. After his last defeat on the train, he'll be wanting some payback. And how did the Slytherin students know this, but not Snape!" He whispered furiously.

Remus opened his mouth to reply, but was cut of by a loud roar. They both whipped around, but almost wished they hadn't as they took in the scene before them. A dragon, unlike any they had ever seen before stood in the center of town. It was about eight stories tall and fifteen stories long. A metal ring was around it's neck which must have been the portkey that caused it to appear so suddenly. It's scales were pitch black but looked as sharp and shiny as obsidian. Cracks ran all over it which glowed as if lit by fire from with in the creature. The phrase 'shadow and flame' from the Lord of the Rings ran through Corin's mind as he took in it's glowing golden eyes and huge claws.

"Corin…"

"Go Remus, protect the students. Somehow I doubt even the killing curse could stop this thing."

"Be careful." Remus said, gripping his shoulder before turning and hurrying towards several students who seemed frozen where they stood.

Screams filled the air now and the dragon narrowed it's eyes and snorted a short shot of flame at the running wizards and witches. Several arrows had already been shot at the creature, but they just bounced off the scales. Aurors could be seen shooting spell after spell, but like the arrows, nothing could get through these impenetrable scales.

"Oron!" He yelled as he saw his friend headed towards the dragon. Oron turned with a questioning look on his face. "Turn into your animagus form and try to communicate with it." At the incredulous look he got, Corin continued. "At least try." Oron nodded, and in a couple of seconds, a small slate blue dragon was flying towards the Morgoth Dragon as Corin had mentally dubbed.

Flame let out a long keening note and the huge serpentine head whipped around and glared t his friend. It gave a low rumbling growl and lashed out trying to catch him in it's jaws. But Everest Slate dragons are incredibly fast and Oron evaded it to stop it's attack, but had to dodge a column of flames this time. Finally Oron gave up and flew back to Corintur, covered in soot.

Changing back, he spoke, "There's no talking to it. All it talks about is pleasing it's master and 'burning, killing, flaming, destroying' and so on."

"Alright, thanks for trying." Corin looked pensively at the beast. Has anything succeeded in penetrating those scales?" He asked, wincing as a third building went up in flames. The attack had really started now. So far no one had been killed yet that he had seen, but many had been injured and it would only be a matter of time if the thing wasn't stopped soon.

Oron came back from conferring with another elf and answered his previous question. "It looks like the only thing that can cut it is an elvish blade. One of our people gave it a shallow cut on it's right flank. But unless we wanna just start hacking away at it's feet we're going to need to hit something more vital. Their problem is getting close enough. I think the only lethal strike we can make is through one of it's eyes and into the brain." Both elves looked back at the dragon, which was now raking it's claws down a shield conjured by Dumbledore, who had flashed in with Fawkes a couple of minutes ago. They looked back at each other, resolve on their faces.

"We can do it." Oron stated.

"Oh yea, no problem." Corin agreed.

"Yep, just tie a rope around it's neck…"

"Pull really hard…"

"Tie the rope to a tree."

"Pose for pictures."

"Jab sword in."

"Done."

"Yep, no problem." They both nodded decisively and turned back to the dragon who had just melted a statue in the square to liquid metal. Finally, they sighed and looked at each other seriously.

"Be careful, Laurea would kill you if you died." Oron finished speaking with a smile.

"You too. So, animagi?"

"Sure, it's a better plan than our last one."

At that, Oron turned into Flame and Corin turned into Talon his phoenix form. As they flew towards the dragon, it must have caught glimpse of them out of the corner of it's eye. It turned to face them with a malevolent look and shot a huge column of flame at them. They swerved in opposite directions with Oron the left and Corin to the right. Thinking back to his and Fawkes flight with the basilisk he tried to get close enough to blind it. But the basilisk hadn't been able to shoot flame or have wings that could send a sudden gust of wind to send them off course.

Getting frustrated now, he let out a loud cry of frustration. The dragon winced, and then hissed at the noise. Stilling, Corin thought hard about it's reaction, then let out a short stream of phoenix song. The dragon let out a shriek and then wheeled towards him and tried to fry him. As he dove to void the fire, he called out to Fawkes. _Fawkes! I need your help!_

Fawkes joined him in the air. _What do you need Harry Potter?_

Corin looked at him, startled. _That's not my name anymore Fawkes._

_But it's still part of who you are. We will discuss this some other time, now why did you call me from my bonded?_

_The dragon cannot bear to hear phoenix song. If you could sing and distract it, I will try my best to kill it once and for all. _Corin replied.

_Very good young elf-wizard, be careful. It is a long ways to fall. _At once, Fawkes began to sing and the dragon cried out in agony, more so than before because Fawkes song was more powerful, since the phoenix was so much older than Corin.

The dragon's eyes were clenched shut and it's claws were scratching at it's head, trying to stop the sound. Corin swooped in, right over it's head and before he could consider what he was doing turned back to his elvish form. He cried out as his hand grasped one of the dragon's horns but held on tightly, even though it sliced his hand open with it's sharp edges. The dragon hadn't noticed him there yet as it was still nearly immobilized by Fawkes singing. The dragon's head was about the size of a small car and he was hanging precariously from the horn on the right side.

Grimacing, he tightened his hold and reached into the pouch at his waist and pulled out his glaive. Then, using a silent elvish spell, he enlarged it back to full size and hefted it in his hand, aiming it for the eye. Taking a deep breath, he held it as he plunged the blade into the eye before him. Suddenly, the eye snapped open, and Corin saw the comprehension come to the Morgoth dragon's eye. As it died, it snapped it's head up sending Corin flying 160 feet in the air, and took a final swipe at him. It's claws caught him mid-air and sliced all down his right side from his shoulder to his knee and got a little bit of his face as well. As his vision began to go black, the last thing he saw was the dragon falling and Fawkes diving to catch him before he hit the ground.

* * *

Mwaaahaaahaaaaaaaa! My first cliffhanger! heehee. well, okay, maybe Ch. 17 'Mist' was a bit of a cliff hanger too. Not as big as this one though! lol. anyways, here's an actiony chapter for you all. I already have the next chapter written, so as soon asI type it up on my computer and fix a couple things, it'll be up too. I'm not cruel enough as to make you wait after an ending to a chapter like this. The next chapter will answer some questions, kindof, actually it's pretty vague but ah well... As always, please review and let me know how I can make my story better. No flames though. If you don't like my story, feel free not to read it. Well, I think I've babbled enough. Thanks for reading.

Arye


	28. Lemon Drop Pajamas

Chapter 28 Lemon Drop Pajamas

Corin slowly became aware of the sound of music around him. He felt as if he was floating in mid air and a strong wind was whipping around him. It smelled like the forest outside Kalayaana; ancient trees, damp soil, berries and wildflowers. But when he opened his eyes he immediately had to shut them again because he was surrounded by a blinding white light. Trying again, he just cracked his eyes open and slowly let his eyes adjust before opening them further. Finally, when he could see somewhat well, he looked around him curiously. As he'd first seen, he was surrounded by white light but there were silver and creamy white patterns and figures swirling slowly around him as well. Whenever he tried to focus on one thing, it would fade out and something else would swirl into its place.

It was a beautiful, if confusing spectacle, but he felt something was missing.

"Rea…" he whispered. His fingers closed frantically round the ring on the chain around his neck. Panic began to fill him and he turned around to see more white patterns. "Laurea!" he yelled into the white.

"Fear not, you will see her again." A voice said, which seemed to come from everywhere around him.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?"

"You have been wondering about your recent powers." The voice continued, not answering his questions.

"Yes, but…"

"The archery, the incident on the train, the glaive fighting skills; all are gifts from me."

"Who are you?"

"But these do not make you invincible. They are only tools." The voice continued talking without answering him. "You are the only one who can kill him. An elf, yet a wizard. Able to use both kinds of magic. You have been chosen for this task. Will you accept it?"

He didn't hesitate. "Yes, I will. But I will need help learning how to control these powers. The magic I used on the train is a vague memory. I don't even remember the words I spoke, much less how to repeat magic of that skill level."

"You will know what to do when you need it."

"Er, thanks."

"Now, I send you back."

"Wait, who are…" The light disappeared. "you." He sighed, then gradually became aware of a feeling of pain along his right side. He breathed in sharply and winced as fire seemed to run along his ribs. He tried to groan but only managed a high pitched whisper when his voice didn't work. His eyelids felt incredibly heavy when he tried to lift them, but he managed to crack them open.

It took time to focus his eyes, but it didn't take him long to recognize the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Several beds were full, but he paid no attention to them the moment his eyes fixed on Laurea. The beautiful elf was slouched in a chair on his left side sleeping, a slack hand holding his own unbandaged one. Her sleep looked peaceful, but every once in awhile she would frown and shift slightly as if to try to get more comfortable.

He squeezed her hand, trying to get her to wake up. "Rea." He whispered. She twitched at the movement, and then slowly opened her eyes. Blinking a couple of times, she looked around blearily to see what woke her. He gripped her hand again and she froze mid-motion, then swiftly spun to face him.

"Corin." She whispered, as if desperate to believe that what she was seeing was real.

"Rea." He gave a half smile, then winced as he jarred a cut on his face he'd somehow gotten.

_"Corin, oh Corintur you're awake, love." _Her eyes were glazed with tears.

_"Shhh. It's alright. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."_

She let out a small sob, then buried her head in his uninjured shoulder and cried. All he could do was stroke her hair with his good hand and whisper softly trying to calm her. Wiping her eyes, she sniffed and spoke again, this time in English. "As soon as you're well again, I'm going to kill you Corintur Raumoraa, for scaring me like that!"

His eyes danced with suppressed mirth as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Well then, I'll be sure to hurry the healing process so we can get on with that."

She giggled in spite of the fact that she was supposed to be mad at him, and her eyes softened as she looked at his bandaged form.

"I love you." She told him softly.

"I love you too. Sorry I took such a big risk."He replied, his fingers reaching up and touching her face softly.

"I know why you did. Oron told me. On a side note, your second plan was much better than your first, despite the outcome."

He grinned, "But the pictures would have been so good! I could have bought a peacock quill with blue and gold ink and signed autographs! I could have been a Lockhart wannabe! Except that I actually did it myself and without the memory problems." By this point, Laurea was trying to muffle her laughter so as not to disturb the other patients.

"I did kill it, right? I didn't do my whole death-defying leap and miss its brain did I?"

She smiled, "No, you got it. Then Fawkes caught you and flashed with you up to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey was properly mortified at the state you were in."

"Speaking of, what day is it and how healed am I?"

Laurea got serious look on her face. "It's been six days since it happened and the whole time you've been in a coma. Dad had the best elven healers in Kalayaana come, but nothing they tried would do much. The wounds you received are very resistant to magic, so we haven't been able to heal you much. The most they've done is scabbed over so try not to move much or you'll be bleeding again."

He nodded and looked up at the ceiling thinking silently. "Were any of the students hurt or anyone killed?"

"No to your first question, the sixth year Gryffindors as well as Remus did a thorough job in getting all students safely up to the castle before the excitement started. But a few town residents were killed when the dragon hit a couple buildings with its fire. Particularly the Hog's Head and one of the inns in town called Ingrid's. Seven Hogsmeade residents from those two buildings combined were killed."

He nodded soberly, "But everyone who fought the Morgoth dragon survived?" She nodded, then shot him a questioning look.

"Morgoth dragon?"

"Shadow and flame, plus I thought Voldemort would be properly revolted at the thought of his monster being named after something from a popular muggle novel."

Laurea grinned. "I'll be sure to tell Dumbledore. I'm sure he will be relieved that his search for something to call that thing will be ended."

"Glad to help."

They smiled at each other for a moment before Laurea suddenly frowned and poked him in the shoulder. "I've got another bone to pick with you, mister! You got hurt only a little more than a week before the Halloween Costume Ball! Now we're down to only four days, and I don't see you getting well enough to go dancing with me by then." She finished with her lower lip stuck out in a pout.

He gave her a look of regret, "Sorry 'Rea, I'd heal myself in an instant if I could." As he said that, his mind flashed back to the events from his second year in the Chamber of Secrets, and his expression turned thoughtful. "Love, has anyone asked Fawkes to heal me yet?"

She just blinked and looked at him, dumfounded. "Um, no. I don't think so."

Corin grinned, "Well, go ask him." Laurea started to grin as well, then she jumped up and ran from the room almost mowing over Remus who jumped out of the way just in time. The werewolf just shook his head and continued walking in, but froze when he saw Corin watching him.

"You're awake." He said, stating the obvious.

"Only for the past fifteen minutes."

Remus nodded and walked the rest of the way into the room to stand by Corin's bed as he tried to think of something else to say. "How are you feeling?" He asked awkwardly.

"I'm in quite a lot of pain along my right side, but as long as I don't move I'm okay." Corin said with a small smile.

Remus tentatively smiled back. "That's an amazing animagus form you have. I'm sure I'll be the first of many to thank you for killing that thing, but thank you. A lot more people would have died if you hadn't stopped it when you did."

Corin nodded in acknowledgment, "I couldn't have done it without Fawkes though. His song was actually painful for it to hear, and kept it distracted long enough for me to kill it."

Remus nodded, "Perhaps because the dragon was made of pure evil and phoenixes are so purely good…" he trailed off in thought. "So you're a grey phoenix? I was quite far away and didn't get a very good look."

"Black and dark silver, actually."

"I don't think we ever told you, but," He lowered his voice just in case anyone might overhear, "your mother's animagus form was a light grey Pegasus. She was the first witch in about a hundred and fifty years to have a magical animagus form."

"Probably her elven blood." Corin whispered thoughtfully.

Remus' eyebrows rose in surprise. "So that's how…" he trailed off and inclined his head towards Corin's elven form.

Corin nodded, "Yes, there was a bit more to it than just having elven blood, but that's one secret I must keep just among my kind." The elf could tell Remus was still incredibly curious about his elven transformation, but was willing to let it rest.

At the moment, Fawkes flashed into the room with Laurea and Dumbledore holding onto his tail. As soon as they let go, the red and gold bird soared over and landed on Corin's left leg. He started picking and tugging on the elf's bandages but stopped when Corin winced. Turning his head towards Dumbledore, Fawkes gave an impatient trill.

"Yes yes, I'm hurrying you silly bird. Not all of us are quite as spry as you in our old age. You get reborn every other month. I, on the other hand, have no such luxury and continue to grow older." Fawkes just sniffed indignantly and trilled again. The headmaster just rolled his eyes and flicked his wand while mumbling about 'no respect' and 'flaming chickens'. Corin's bandages disappeared and everyone winced as they took in the barely healed claw marks. Fawkes paid them no mind as he set to work healing the wounds. The tears hissed as they touched the scabs as if even from the grave, the dragon tried to make their work as difficult as possible. But slowly the skin began to knit together as Fawkes made his way up Corin's body. From his right knee, up the thigh, across his stomach and ribs, over his shoulder and finally to the cut that ran down from the right cheekbone to his neck. Finally he was completely healed except for the pinkish-white scars that would not disappear. Fawkes looked at them regretfully, but Corin shook his head.

"It's fine Fawkes, you did your best. Some mark of that creature was bound to remain."

"Besides, they're marks of honor. Reminders of the evil you defeated." Laurea said with a reassuring smile. "I kinda like them." She added with a wink.

He grinned and sat up slowly, as his muscles were still a bit sore. Fawkes watched him closely, looking for any sign of pain. "I'm fine Fawkes, thanks to you. The muscles around my scars are still a bit sore, but that's nothing that rest and a long bath won't cure." Corin said, while running his hand through Fawkes' feathers. Fawkes gave a small thrill and rubbed his head under Corin's chin, then flew back to perch on Dumbledore's shoulder.

Corin was about to get up, but stopped just in time when he realized how little clothing he had on. "Ah Albus, could you…" He kind of gestured towards his bare chest.

"Of course Mr. Raumoraa, of course." Dumbledore smiled and twinkled as he waved his wand. A pair of lime green pajamas with lemon drops all over them appeared on Corin. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you at dinner. Feel free to keep those as a gift from me." Dumbledore hummed to himself as he headed towards the door, ignoring Corin's horrified looks and calls of 'I can't wear these things through the halls'.

Corin tried repeatedly to change the pajamas to something else, but only managed to make the lemon drops twinkle brightly. Finally resigned to having to wear the garish pajamas he turned to face Laurea and Remus only to find them stifling their laughter.

"Not funny."

Laurea only grinned and said. "Up you get!" Her expression became a cross between amused and resigned, "Besides, you have a very depressed knealin that needs to see you."

He gave her a look. "I'm _not _walking through the halls dressed like this."

She rolled her eyes, and whipped his invisibility cloak out from… somewhere. "Will this be better, your highness?"

"Much." He said with a satisfied smile.

After saying goodbye to Remus, they made their way through the halls to Corin's rooms. As they opened the door Corin got his first glimpse of Artue. The young knealin was lying in front of the fire staring morosely at the flames. Every once in awhile he would let out a pitiful whine and chew half-heartedly on one of Corin's socks.

"Well, this is a pitiful sight. I'll bet you haven't even jumped off the couch once today!" Artue's head shot up and he stared incredulously at the elf that resembled his bonded… except for the rather bright pajamas he was wearing. The knealin shot in the air so fast that before anyone realized it Artue had flown like a bullet across the room and collided with Corin's chest.

"Artue! You flew!" Artue who had been squeaking and purring nonstop suddenly paused in shock. He looked from the rug by the fire, to Corin, and back again before both elves could see the realization dawn on the winged leopard's face. Artue pumped his wings furiously and Corin could feel the knealin lifting from his arms. Suddenly Artue was back in the air squealing excitedly. Miri and Hedwig joined him and the three flew around and around the room as Corin and Laurea watched, smiling.

* * *

Wooo hooooo! He's awake! happiness! anyways. Morgoth dragon. Lord of the Rings reference (obviously). I don't know quite as much about LotR as I do Harry Potter, but Morgoth is some evil dude from the Samirilion...Silmerilion...whatever. never read the book. only have fanfictions and a random reference that Legolas makes in the Fellowship of the Ring movie right before they enter Lothlorien in the extended edition. Sooo, Artue's flying now. what can I say, he was working so hard at it and I kindof got impatient. I'm going on a motorcycle trip this weekend, so I'll bring my story notebook and try to get some work done for the next chapter. The Halloween ball will be within the next few chapters. I've been having fun planning costumes for everyone. oooo... heeheehee... just got an idea. can't tell you though. must go write down... bye now. please review.

Arye


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